This is not true - the govt gave Rs. 3000 crore (the asked-for amount) in aid to SII.
> They jumped at it with all hands and today account for 90% of all doses administered.
True, but it's likely that the government's commitment to buy 100s of millions of vaccines played no small part in giving them the confidence to scale up the way they did.
> India is like top 3 in the world in pharma manufacturing
True, but SII is the big daddy of vaccines. Even before Covid, they were making 60% of the entire world's supply of vaccines.
> Many companies were ready and willing to switch to vaccine manufacturing but were tied up in bureaucracy with no support from the government.
SII had the capability and capacity, and committed to deliver the quantity as well. They had started manufacturing Covishield in the millions as early as November 2020 or so. Bharat (Covaxin) had a fully developed vaccine. Under the circumstances, why would the government (or any other buyer) risk spreading itself thin over many different suppliers instead of going with those which already had a product in hand?
