On 19 April 2021, the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare through a press release announcing the "Liberalized and Accelerated Phase 3 Strategy" of the National COVID-19 vaccination program. The strategy will enter into force on 1 May 2021.

In the new phase, all vaccine manufacturers will have to supply 50% of their monthly Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL)* released doses to the Government of India. The manufacturers would be free to supply the remaining 50% doses to the state governments or in the open market. For the latter 50%, the manufacturers would have to declare the price of the vaccines in advance before 1 May 2021.

*Under the current protocol of the Central Drugs Standards Control Organization (CDSCO) of India for batch release of vaccines, each batch of the vaccine will be released by the Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL), Kasauli before it can be used as per the guidelines of the National COVID-19 vaccination program.