The Central Research Institute in Kasauli will submit a new proposal to the Union Health Ministry next week for the construction of modern GMP facilities for the manufacture of vaccines other than DTP group.

For the DTP group of vaccines, the company has already started the construction and efforts are on to finish the work before December. The construction of the state-of-the-art GMP facilities are part of its revival project, said K R Mani, its director.

Mani said that he would submit the report to the Director General of Health Services and also to the secretary, Union Ministry of Health. The project involves an investment of Rs 291 crore.

The project in the pipeline for new GMP facilities is meant for the production of vaccines like DT, DAT, ARV, yellow fever vaccine, TT, TAT, JE vaccine, anti-D, hepatitis-B. and anti-serum products. Currently, all these vaccines including the DTP group are made in the old facilities.

"We are preparing a proposal for Rs 291 crore. Now we have engaged in the setting up of a state-of-the-art facility for DTP group. The facilities in the project will also like that of the upcoming new DTP facility. In the new GMP facility for DTP, we are supposed to manufacture 100 million doses of the vaccine," he said.

Meanwhile the Unit has started supplying vaccines after the withdrawal of production suspension by the health ministry in last February. At present the unit is supplying vaccines like DTP, YF and typhoid. Last week, 12 lakh doses of DTP group were supplied to different institutes in the country.

In March this year itself the unit commenced its production in the old facility. The health ministry has given a time of three years for setting up new facilities for all the three units, the other being PII Coonoor and BCG Lab, Chennai.

After the order of the government to proceed with production in the existing facility five months ago, CRI has supplied 39 million doses of DPT and 31 million doses of TT. Now production for all the vaccines have been started in the old building, the director said.

CRI is the first unit which started the manufacture and supply of vaccines after the revival notice served by the government. The research institute is the main producer of DTP vaccines for the National Immunization Programme and also to the government hospitals.

The modern GMP facility is being constructed by HLL Lifecare as per WHO norms. HLL has engaged GMP experts from outside the country in the work. The project for modernization of plant and construction of GMP facility for DTP, will incur an expenditure of more than Rs 200 crore.