Free vaccines, food to cost India additional $11 bn

India will need to spend an additional 800 billion rupees ($11 billion) to provide free vaccines and food to millions of people devastated by the deadly coronavirus wave, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The government will earmark an additional 700 billion rupees for providing food to the poor and other eligible groups until November, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the numbers aren’t public. The administration will need an extra 100 billion rupees to provide free vaccinations, they said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed Monday to provide free inoculations, reversing a policy where states ended up competing for supplies for certain age categories, leading to severe shortages. His administration also has been criticized for its handling of the second wave of the virus, which has killed thousands of people in India.

In an address on national television, Modi said all Indians above age 18 can be vaccinated for free starting June 21, to speed up the inoculation drive.