Bengaluru/Hyderabad,  Karnataka Health Minister K. Sudhakar on Tuesday welcomed Bharat Biotech's move to start manufacturing Covaxin coronavirus vaccine at its Bengaluru plant, amid reports it plans to double production to 12 mn by July.

In a tweet, the minister said that Bharat Biotech's decision to augment Covaxin production "will surely help India's massive Covid vaccination efforts".

Sources said that the Hyderabad-based company is ready to raise Covaxin production to 12 million doses a month from July from the current 5 million doses, through bulk production at its Bengaluru facility.

The company received approval to start bulk production at its Bengaluru facility recently.

According to official sources, Bharat Biotech has sought Rs 150 crore funding to be used in its Hyderabad and Bengaluru plants and thereby, propel vaccine production to 500 million doses eventually.