IIT-Kanpur signs pact with two firms for production of cheap ventilators

The IIT-Kanpur has tied up with two firms for the production of affordable ventilators for use during the coronavirus pandemic, an official said on Tuesday.

The premiere institute signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard with public sector undertaking Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL) and Nocca Robotics Private Ltd (NRPL).

Institute Director Abhay Karandikar said in response to the call given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Nocca Robotics developed a high-end affordable ventilator for critical coronavirus patients under the supervision of an IIT-K team led by Prof Amitabha Bandyopadhyay.

Now, with the BDL supporting us, we will be able to scale up the production and make this critical device widely available as a Make in India product," he said.

Apart from providing support to critical patients, the ventilator's design has unique features to safeguard the frontline healthcare workers from exposure to the virus, he added.