Adar Poonawalla, the chief executive officer of Serum Institute of India, on Tuesday said that his company’s existing capacity to manufacture coronavirus vaccine Covishield was “very stressed” and it required Rs 3,000 crore to increase production by June, NDTV reported.

In an interview to the news channel, Poonawalla said that the Serum Institute was prioritising the vaccine needs of India but was still short of being able to supply the doses to every citizen.

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Poonawalla told NDTV that his company presently manufactured 60 to 65 million doses (6 crore to 6.5 crore) of the vaccine every month. He added that Serum Institute has so far exported 60 million doses of the vaccine and supplied 100 million (10 crore) to the Centre.

The Serum Institute chief added that his company was not making “super profits” because it was supplying the vaccine at discounted rates in India

“We’re supplying [the vaccine] in India at approximately Rs 150-160 [per dose],” he told NDTV. “The average price is around $20 [Rs 1,470 approximately], but because of the [Narendra] Modi government’s request, we are providing at subsidised rates.” The shortfall of Rs 3,000 crore has been linked to this agreement, according to NDTV.

Poonawalla added that the process to scale up vaccine production would take about three months. The Serum Institute chief said that he has written to the Centre about the shortfall, and would also consider taking a loan.

Poonawalla added that even if his company began making around 100 million vaccines doses per month, India would require other manufacturers also to increase their production capacity in order to fulfil present requirements.

Poonawalla told NDTV that the Centre said last month it would pause the shipment of Covishield to other countries, and this “first claim” agreement with India was tough to explain to other countries. However, the Centre had last week denied banning the export of vaccines.

Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin are the two vaccines being used in India’s inoculation drive. Currently, only people above 45 and frontline and health workers are eligible for vaccination.

Poonawalla also said the Serum Institute was working towards making Russian vaccine Sputnik-V available, adding that Codagenix’ single-dose nasal vaccine would also enter trials soon.

Amid the surge in cases in India, there have been demands to make the vaccine available to all. However, the Centre on Tuesday refused to open up inoculation for all citizens, saying that the aim was to cover the people who are the most vulnerable at the earliest. “The aim is never to vaccinate whoever wants, but always on whoever needs,” Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said at a press conference.