Congress slams Centre over differential Covishield pricing

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday criticised the Union government over differential pricing of Covishield vaccine, saying the Centre getting it at Rs 150 per dose and States at Rs 400 is no cooperative federalism.

He demanded the Centre and State governments pay the same price for the Covid-19 vaccine. He said overcharging State governments for the anti-coronavirus shots will bleed dry their already stressed finances. "The Central government will continue to pay Rs 150 per dose for Covishield. State governments will now be charged Rs 400 a dose. This is not cooperative federalism. This will bleed dry the already reeling State finances. Atrocious," he said on Twitter.

"We demand One Nation, one price for Centre and State governments," he said. Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's largest vaccine-maker, on Wednesday announced a price of Rs 600 per dose for Covid vaccine supplies to private hospitals and Rs 400 per dose to State governments. In a statement posted on its Twitter handle, SII said it will address the limited capacity by scaling up the vaccine production over the next two months.