Bharat Biotech unit to make Pune plant functional by August-end

Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin would now be produced in Pune by the vaccine maker's associate Biovet Pvt Ltd, with the backing of the Maharashtra government.

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who is the Guardian Minister of Pune district, is overseeing the progress.

Earlier this week, Pune’s Divisional Commissioner Saurabh Rao and Pune District Collector Rajesh Deshmukh visited Manjari Khurd in Haveli tehsil and inspected the site spread in around 11.5 hectares.

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“It would take three months to start production of vaccines in this facility,” Pawar told reporters in Pune on Friday. He has asked Rao to request the management to give preference to Maharashtra during vaccine supply after its commitment to the Centre.

It may be recalled that last week a division bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justice KK Tated and Justice Nitin Borkar, while hearing an interim application by Karnataka-headquartered Biovet, asked the Maharashtra government to hand over the vaccine manufacturing facility.

According to reports, the Manjari unit was first being used by Intervet India Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Merck & Co, after land was granted to it in 1973 to manufacture vaccines for Foot and Mouth Disease. However, later Intervet exited the plant operations and entered into an agreement with Biovet for the transfer of the land and manufacturing unit. When Biovet sought transfer of land, the Maharashtra Forest Department claimed ownership of the land.

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