Serum Institute of India set to expand in UK with Rs 2458 cr investment; details here

Serum Institute of India is all set to expand its business in the United Kingdom. The expansion, which will involve an investment of over Rs 2458 crore by the Pune-based vaccine maker, came after a virtual summit meeting between Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and his counterpart in the UK, Boris Johnson. This is a part of the Billion-pound investment deal involving 20 companies, between the two countries. 

The SII, in a step to expand in the UK, will set up a new sales office. The sales office is expected to generate new business worth over 1 billion dollars, and will support clinical trials, research, and development, and will possibly manufacture vaccines. The SII has already started the trial of the one-dose nasal vaccine for coronavirus, in partnership with Codagenix INC, as per reports. 

SII is the world's largest vaccine maker, has been involved in producing the low-cost AstraZeneca coronavirus shot, which is one of the two vaccines in the arsenal of India in the battle against COVID-19, with the third, Sputnik-V set to reach dispensaries soon. 

PM Modi's virtual summit with Boris Johnson

On Tuesday, PM Modi held a virtual summit meeting with his counterpart in the UK, Boris Johnson. In the summit meeting, the two leaders discussed a gamut of issues of mutual interest, including political tie-ups, education, research, innovation, enterprise, culture, connectivity, trade, financial and economic corporation, space and cooperation in the nuclear domain, defense, and security, including international and cross-border security, as well as cybersecurity. The discussions were all held under the umbrella of 'Roadmap 2020' for India and the UK's future relationship. 

PM Modi took to his official Twitter handle to inform about the same. "Had a productive Virtual Summit with my friend UK PM Boris Johnson. We adopted an ambitious Roadmap 2030 for elevating India-UK ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership," he wrote. 

(Credit-Adarpoonawala/Twitter/RepresentativeImage)