Cost of vaccinating India's entire population above 18 years 0.36% of GDP: India Ratings and Research

The cost of vaccinating the entire population above 18 years would be just 0.36% of India’s gross domestic product (GDP), according to an India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) report on Thursday.

The total cost to be borne by central and state exchequers stood at Rs 67,193 crore, with the states having to incur a majority of the cost at about 0.24% of GDP while the figure for the Centre was 0.12% of GDP, the report said.

Out of the Rs 46,323 crore that the states would have to spend on vaccinating those in the 18-44 age group, the highest burden would fall on Bihar at 0.6% of gross state domestic product (GSDP), followed by Uttar Pradesh at 0.47% and Jharkhand at 0.37% of GSDP each.


The Centre opened up the Covid-19 vaccination drive to the population in the 18-44 age group, which will begin from May 1. However, states would have to procure the vaccine directly from manufacturers.

While vaccine manufacturers would have to reserve 50% of vaccines produced for the central government, the remaining half could be procured by states and sold in the open market.

Adar Poonawalla-led Serum Institute of India (SII) had set a price of Rs 400 per dose for states and Rs 600 per dose for private hospitals. The alternate pricing strategy received severe backlash from citizens on claims that Poonawalla was trying to profit from a crisis.

The Centre had already spent Rs 5,090 crore on procuring 214 million doses from SII in two batches at a cost of Rs 236 and Rs 244 per dose, respectively.

“Ind-Ra believes given the magnitude of the problem and the economic cost the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic is likely to inflict on the economy, it is too small an amount,” the report said.

The rating agency said these expenditures would be recurring on state and central budgets since antibodies generated by these vaccines are likely to last for 12-18 months.

While the states of Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh have announced they would provide vaccines free of cost, vaccinations by large corporate groups would reduce pressure on state and central budgets, Ind-Ra said.