New Delhi:  Minister of State for Chemical and Fertilizers Mansukh Mandaviya on Saturday announced that the government has decided to discontinue the central allocation of Remdesivir to States. Taking to Twitter, the Union minister asserted that he has directed the National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Agency & CDSCO to continuously monitor the availability of Remdesivir in the country.

“Now the country has enough Remdesivir as the supply is much more than the demand. The number of plants producing Remdesivir have also increased from just 20 to 60 within a month. I am delighted and satisfied to inform you all that the Production of Remdesivir is ramped up ten times from just ~33,000 vials/day on 11th April 2021 to ~3,50,000 vials/day today under the astute leadership of PM Modi. So we have decided to DISCONTINUE the Central Allocation of Remdesivir to States (sic),” he wrote on the micro-blogging site.

Furthermore, Mandaviya said that the Centre has decided to procure 50 lakh vials of Remdesivir to maintain it as a strategic stock for the emergency requirement.

Earlier last month, in a bid to augment domestic availability and reduce the cost of the antiviral injection, the Centre had waived customs duty on Remdesivir, its raw materials, and other components used to make the drug.

The items on which the duty had been waived include Remdesivir active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), injection Remdesivir, and beta Cyclodextrin used in the manufacture of Remdesivir. This import duty exemption would remain in force till October 31 this year.

(With agency inputs)