Stigmatised capital

Poonawalla's comments reveal the pitfalls of doing business in India

India’s vaccination roll-out is already delayed. After opening up availability to those between 18 and 44, the pace of vaccination has unfortunately slowed further. In order to scale it up, whether in terms of distribution or supply, the government needs to partner the private sector more effectively. It appears, however, that old habits of thinking about private companies are getting in the way of this effort. The head of the Serum Institute of India (SII), Adar Poonawalla, said in a recent interview to The Times of London he had been receiving calls that were full of “aggression”, including those from