BMC Gets 3 Bids from Russia's Sputnik Covid Vaccine Makers

Mumbai:  According to government sources, Mumbai has received three bids for the supply of Russia's Sputnik V Covid vaccine.  The city's civic body had earlier this month awarded global tenders for a million doses The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had submitted tenders on May 11. 

These are in line with India's latest nationwide Covid-19 vaccination policy.  The deadline for submitting bids is tomorrow.  One of the three received so far is the facilitator of the London-based Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDF), the maker of Sputnik V, and the other two are independent representatives based in India. 

The legal, technical and financial aspects of the bids will be decided within two weeks, government sources told to us after the auction ended tomorrow in consultation with the Maharashtra government. They said RDIF or its representatives were ready to deliver one crore vaccine doses to BMC within 60 days. 

Based in Hyderabad, Dr.  Sputnik V's imports will be free from Reddy's vaccine manufacturing in India. Developed by the Moscow-based Gamalia Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Sputnik V 2020 was registered on August 11 by the Russian Ministry of Health.  It is approved for use in India but has not yet been approved by the World Health Organisation.

The next stage of the bidding process for Mumbai involves a letter of interest to be sent to RDF.  In all cases, the money must be paid into RDF's escrow account, sources said. Mumbai's success in accepting bids for the supply of Covid vaccine came amidst incidents in which Punjab and Delhi revealed that they had been rejected by the private manufacturers they had approached.