Maharashtra Government Approves ₹25 Crore Fund To Strengthen Haffkine Vaccine, Announces DCM Ajit Pawar

Mumbai/Pune: A meeting was held on Tuesday to address the challenges of the Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceutical Corporation under the leadership of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. The discussions included pension concerns of retired staff and officers, as well as measures to strengthen its vaccine manufacturing capacity, particularly at the premises located in Vallab Nagar, Pimpri-Chinchwad.

Ajit Pawar took to X (formerly Twitter) and announced the meeting. He said, "The Haffkine Institute has made invaluable contributions to the field of vaccine production. It has played a significant role in the eradication of polio from the country. The Government of India has a demand for 268 million doses of oral polio vaccine."

Pawar further said, "In today's meeting, an in-principle approval was granted to provide a fund of ₹25 crore to the Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceutical Corporation from the two per cent cess of the Haffkine Procurement Cell for the production of these vaccines."

Pawar further said that a committee headed by renowned scientist Dr Raghunath Mashelkar has been appointed. Its purpose is to strengthen the Haffkine Institute and Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceutical Corporation. The committee has submitted its report to the government.

This committee will include the secretaries of the medical education, public health, and planning departments. They were instructed to prepare a five-year roadmap for the empowerment of Haffkine.

The Pimpri-Chinchwad unit of the Haffkine Institute, which specialises in antivenoms, currently has 1.5 lakh doses of the anti-snake venom vaccine ready. "The snake venom vaccine produced by Haffkine is effective and potent. Instructions were given that the Maharashtra Medical Goods Procurement Authority should purchase these vaccines directly from Haffkine," said Ajit Pawar.

Haffkine's Struggles 

Despite these developments, Haffkine continues to grapple with significant challenges at its Pimpri-Chinchwad premises. The Free Press Journal's earlier report had revealed the problems with the facility. Originally envisioned as a key hub for vaccine manufacturing, Haffkine suffers from underutilisation and delayed modernisation.

Hearing reports about this, Maharashtra FDA Minister Narhari Zirwal visited the premises a fortnight ago. He was told about infrastructure bottlenecks, outdated equipment, and slow-moving approvals in Haffkine, which have hampered production expansion at the site. Employees voiced concerns over uncertain operational schedules and inconsistent government support.