Hon. Sh @kharge ji has written to PM Sh @narendramodi ji.

Here is a point wise response elaborating measures taken and rectifying some of the misconceptions in the letter.

1/n

Worlds Fastest & largest vaccine drive: 15 cr vaccinated - 103 days

17.56 cr vaccine doses provided to States/UTs Free of Cost
72 Lk doses still available w/ States/UTs to be administerd
46 Lk+ doses in addition will be receivd by States/UTs in nxt 3 days
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1717260

COVID vaccines are being provided FREE OF COST by the GoI to those who are 45 yrs of age & above and to all frontline workers.

On Govt supplies, GST is also paid by Govt.
From GST collected on vaccine, half is earned by Centre & other half by the States.

41% of Centre’s collections also get devolved to the States.

States end up receiving almost 70% of the total revenue collected from vaccines.

A nominal 5% GST is in interest of the domestic manufacturer of vaccine & in the interest of citizens. If full exemption frm GST is given, vaccine manufacturers would not be able to offset their input taxes & wud pass them on to the end consumer/citizen by increasing the price.

A 5% GST rate ensures that the manufacturer is able to utilise ITC and in case of overflow of ITC, claim refund.

Exemption to vaccine from GST would be counterproductive without benefiting the consumer.

Serum Institute of India

Total order: 26.60 cr doses
Total Supplied: 14.344 cr doses
Amount Billed: 2353.09 cr
Amount Paid: 3639.67 CR

(includes advance payment Rs 1732.50 cr paid on 28th April for 11 cr doses to be delivered in May,June,July 2021)

Bharat Biotech Int. Ltd

Total order: 8.00 cr doses
Total Supplied: 1.8813 cr doses
Amount Billed: 342.28 CR
Amount Paid: 1104.78 CR

(includes advance payment Rs 787.50 cr paid on 28th April for 5 crore doses to be delivered in May,June,July 2021)

1.5 Lk doses of Sputnik V have already reached India and RDIF has also tied up with local Indian companies for bulk production.

Assistance to States/UTs
6,608 Oxy Concentrators
3,856 Oxy Cylinders
1500 PSA plants being set up across country via PMCARES & PSUs
4,330 ventilators/ Bi PAP/ C PAP
Over 3Lk Remdesivir vials delivrd/dispatched
400 ex-AMC/SSC medics, releasd betwn 2017-2021 expctd to be recruitd

Indian Railways:

Delivered 4200 MT of LMO
Via 268 tankers to various states across the country.
68 Oxygen Expresses have already completed their journey so far.

Indian Army:
Nearly 750 beds in various Military Hospitals set aside fr civilian use
AFMS dedicated 19 hospitals,ovr 4,000 beds & 585 ICU units across the country
Base Hospital in Delhi converted into a COVID hospital with capacity being increased from around 400 to 1,000 beds.

DRDO

Set up 500-bed COVID-19 facility in New Delhi & Lucknow
900-bed hospital in Ahmedabad & converted ESIC Hospital in Patna to COVID hospital with 500 beds

Indian Air Force:

IAF transport aircraft carried out 50 sorties, airlifting 61 oxygen containers of 1142 MT capacity from abroad
Within India 344 sorties, airlifting 230 containers of 4527 MT capacity

Indian Navy:
Naval ships viz. Kolkata, Kochi, Tabar, Trikand, Jalashwa and Airavat deployed for shipment of liquid medical oxygen-filled cryogenic containers and associated medical equipment from various countries in the Middle East and South-East Asia.

Full exemption from Customs duties, including IGST, is already available to ALL COVID relief material imported by
@IndianRedCross for free distribution in the country. (See List)

List of items fr COVID relief grantd exemptn frm IGST fr imports issued on 3rd May’21.
It hd exemption frm Customs Duty/health cess evn earlier.
Since 3 May’21, full exemptn frm all duties providd to Remdesivir injectns + Remdesivir API & fr a chemical fr manufacture of ths drug.

Also to Medical Oxy,equipment used for manufacture,storage & transportatn of oxygen, equipmnt used fr providing oxygen therapy to COVID patients such as Oxygen Concentrators,Ventilators,Non-invasive oxygen masks,Inflammatory diagnostic kits & reagents fr testing & COVID vaccines.

This exemption applies to all above mentioned goods when imported free of cost for free distribution in the country by any entity, State Govt, relief agency or autonomous body on the basis of a certificate issued by a State Government.

In order to augment availability of these items,Govt also provided full exemptn frm basic customs duty & health cess to thr commercial imports.
GST rates varying 5% (on vaccines),12% (COVID drugs, oxy concentrators) is applicable to domestic supplies & commercial import of items.

Customs Clearance:

Please see @cbic_india for swiftness with which medical consignments are being cleared in a matter of minutes.

Arrival & Clearance time stamp is available transparently.

MGNREGA:

Not only did NDA Govt double the allocation during the COVID period last year from Rs 61500cr to a historic high of over Rs 1 Lk crore, but also increased the wages to Rs 202 thereby ensuring 300 crore person days of work in total.
And it’s demand driven.