According to Poonawala, the serum fire caused a loss of over Rs 1,000 crore

Pune, Ta. Friday, January 22, 2021

A day after the fire broke out, Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawala informed that Rs. More than Rs 1,000 crore has been lost.

The fire also damaged rotavirus and BCG vaccine production and storage units. Poonawala, however, clarified that the supply of Covid vaccine Covishield, which was of great concern to the countrymen due to the fire, would not be affected.

In a press conference, Poonawala said that the damage caused by the fire was Rs. 1,000 crore. Although the supply of Covishield vaccine has not been affected, the production and storage of rotavirus and BCG vaccine has been affected.

According to Poonawala, the building that caught fire on Thursday was new construction and work was underway to increase production capacity there. There were currently no goods or production going on. Devices and machines were being installed there which may have caused the incident. The fire has affected future production capacity, he added.

The fire completely engulfed the upper three floors of a newly constructed six-storey building on the SII campus. The five fire victims were doing welding and air-conditioning work on a contract basis.

The place of SII is important in the vaccine that is being developed in the country to combat covid. Today, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray visited the institute along with state Tourism Minister Aditya Thackeray, Labor and Excise Minister Dilip Walse Patil, Pune MP Girish Bapat and other senior police officials.

Chief Minister Thackeray said that Kovid-19 is still causing blackmail all over the world. Serum is a ray of hope in such circumstances. Everyone was worried when they heard the news of the fire.

Poonawala initially said there were no casualties but now admitted that there was confusion over the casualties. He said no one was aware the contractor's workers were here. No casualties were reported when the fire broke out, but five deaths were later reported due to reduced smoke. We had no idea how many of the contractors were working.

The company immediately paid Rs. Apart from announcing compensation of Rs 25 lakh, he will also get the amount as per the rules. The fire broke out between 1.45pm and 2.15pm on Thursday and was brought under control around 4.30pm, according to police and fire brigade. About 10 fire tankers, four additional water tankers and other equipment were deployed to put out the fire.

70 firefighters were deployed throughout the operation. The Serum Institute is the world's largest producer of vaccines in terms of dosage production and sales. It produces and sells 150 million doses a year. The institute also produces other vaccines besides polio, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis.