BJP alleges corruption in purchase of Remdesivir injection by BMC & Govt, demands probe

BJP points to huge price gap in BMC & Govt tenders for the purchase of the same drug.

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Mumbai: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Dr Kirit Somaiya on Thursday demanded investigation into what he alleged corruption in purchase of Remdesivir (100 mg) injection by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the State Government. The BJP leader argued that the BMC was purchasing the same injection at the rate of Rs 1,568 per vial, whereas the state government was purchasing the same injection at the rate of Rs 665.84 per vial, a huge variation of Rs 903 between the two price quotations. The BJP has demanded inquiry into whom was the excess amount paid?

Releasing the details of the Letter of Purchase Order of both BMC and state governments own Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceutical Corporation Limited, the senior BJP leader remarked that the state government’s own Haffkine Bio-Pharma had placed purchase order of 57,100 vials at the rate of Rs 665.84 per vial from Ms. Cadila Healthcare at a total cost of Rs 3,80,19,461. The state had approved an allocation of Rs 176.54 crore for the purchase of the drug.

The Purchase Order (PO) was issued on April 9 as agitated relatives of patients began demanding provision of the Remdesivir injection.

Two days before the state government placed its order, the BMC on April 7 placed its PO with Mylan Laboratories for the purchase of 2 lakh vials of the same Remdesivir injection (100 mg) at a rate of Rs 1,568 per vial.

The purchase of the drug was meant for supply to its Covid facilities at 14 locations in the city that included – Parel, Sion, Mumbai Central, Jogeshwari, Andheri, Bandra, Worli, Goregaon, Mulund, Dahisar, BKC, Chinchpokli, Byculla and Juhu.

Meanwhile, BJP MLC Gopichand Padalkar too has in a tweet demanded inquiry into who was paid the excess amount.

It may be recalled that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray during his Facebook Live on April 13 had argued that the shortage of the injection was being felt due to the sudden demand for it. During his interaction with district administration officials on April 14, the Chief Minister advocated the need to take precautions while using oxygen and Remdesivir so that their use is appropriate and proper.