India recorded 92,596 new cases of coronavirus infections and 2,219 deaths in the last 24 hours. With over 18,000 fresh cases, Tamil Nadu was once again the highest contributor to the country’s daily caseload.
Kerala had over 15,000 cases while Maharashtra reported slightly less than 11,000. The overall caseload rose to 2.9 crore, while active cases dropped to 12.31 lakh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan to provide free vaccines to states for all citizens over 18 years from June 21 is likely to cost the exchequer an additional Rs 15,000 crore compared with the Budget allocation of Rs 35,000 crore.
“It is too early to give a correct estimate with multiple suppliers and different prices. But the rough estimate is total expenditure for vaccines for this year may be Rs 45,000-50,000 crore. In the Budget, we had provided Rs 35,000 crore, and of this, the government has paid out about Rs 5,000 crore,” a senior government official said.
News Source : The Economic Times
