Azad said an expert group has been constituted at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to oversee the process.

He said proposals were received from various Indian institutions and the ministry has given approval to four of them.

ICMR Director General V.M. Katoch said the council has approved proposals from four institutes, including Delhi University, and Indian Institutes of Technology at Delhi and Mumbai.

He said China is also working on producing the natural source for the antivirals that can combat the H1N1 influenza virus.

'Our prices will of course be cheaper. We will be competing,' he added.

Currently, a 10-tablet strip of the drug costs Rs.280 in the open market.

On Thursday, health authorities said six people died of swine flu in Hyderabad. They had died between Sep 13 to 15. But it was confirmed only on Thursday.

Two deaths were reported from Karnataka, taking the total number of deaths due to H1N1 virus to 73. While one patient died in Bangalore, the other death was registered in Bijapur.

A 35-year old-man admitted to a private hospital in Bangalore on Sep 9 died on Sep 15, and a 40-year-old woman admitted on Sep 11 to a private hospital in Bijapur succumbed the next day. However, the report confirming that they died of flu was received on Sep 16.

'Till date, samples from 31,517 people have been tested for influenza A (H1N1) in government laboratories and a few private labs across the country and 7,008 of them have been found poisitive,' a statement issued here said.

Meanwhile, 208 fresh cases were reported in the country, taking the total number of affected people to 7,008.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), about 277,607 confirmed swine flu cases have been reported globally, while there have been 3,205 deaths in 190

countries, mostly from Mexico and the US.