Mumbai:  BMC has planned to procure 10 million vaccine doses from the international market to speed up the vaccination drive in the city. For this, it floated a global expression of interest on May 12 and the last date of bidding was May 18. The BMC has planned to procure 10 million vaccine doses from the international market to speed up the vaccination drive in the city. For this, it floated a global expression of interest on May 12 and the last date of bidding was May 18. A BMC official confirmed on Tuesday, “We have extended the last date of participation by another week as we would like to give more time to the market to respond.”

P Velrasu, the additional municipal commissioner of the BMC, had told HT a day ago, “We have not got any response yet, and we are likely to extend the last date for bidding by one more week. We expect the market to respond once we give the extension.” According to officials, any interested supplier can bid for the tender. However, China has been restricted from bidding. Further, the vaccines that do not have the Centre’s approval will have to get the same on their own, according to BMC’s tender document.