India's finance chief announces $120.6m grant for COVID-19 vaccine development

NEW DELHI - Indian Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman Thursday announced a grant of over $120.6 million for the research and development of COVID-19 vaccine.

The announcement came during the spelling out of the third stimulus for the revival of economy in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

"Rupees 900 crore ($120.6 million) provided for COVID-19 Suraksha (prevention) Mission for Research and Development of Indian COVID-19 vaccine to department of Biotechnology," Sitharaman said.

At present three COVID-19 vaccine candidates are in different stages of human clinical trials in India.

The government also approved over $2 billion financial outlay to incentivize the global and domestic players to engage in high-value production of pharmaceutical drugs.