Coronavirus: Mahindra & Mahindra to manufacture face shield to combat COVID-19
Amid the coronavirus outbreak in India, the carmaker sourced the technology behind the face shields from its American partner Ford Motor Company.
Mahindra & Mahindra will manufacture a face shield designed by Ford for medical service providers to help in combating coronavirus pandemic, according to Managing Director Pawan Goenka. The company is targeting to make 500 pieces on Monday and ramp up the capacity.
"With a design sourced from our partner Ford Motor, we are now ready to make this face shield for use of medical service providers," Goenka said in a tweet on Monday while sharing a prototype picture.
The company is also working on a new, low-cost ventilator. On March 26, Goenka in a series of tweets had confirmed that Mahindra is working with two large PSUs and an existing manufacturer of high-spec ventilators. The company plans to help simplify the design and also scale up manufacturing capacity.
Mahindra is expected to come up with a sophisticated ventilator at just Rs 7,500, which otherwise costs up to Rs 10 lakh, as it seeks to assist in combating coronavirus pandemic. The prototype version of the same was made by the company’s engineers at Kandivali and Igatpuri. The prototypes were created in a record 48 hours.
Anand Mahindra, Chairman of Mahindra, said, "This could be a game-changer in quickly providing large numbers of low-cost life savers, particularly when ICU ventilators are still scarce."
The company also said that it hoped to have a prototype of an automated version of bag valve mask ventilator, commonly known as Ambu bag, in three days for approval.
Anand Mahindra had earlier taken to Twitter to announce that the group will be converting its holiday resorts to temporary care facilities.
He added, “The Mahindra Foundation will create a fund to assist the hardest hit in our value chain (small businesses and the self-employed). We will encourage associates to voluntarily contribute to the fund. I will contribute 100 percent of my salary to it and will add more over the next few months. I urge all our various businesses to also set aside contributions for those who are the hardest hit in their ecosystems."
The number of COVID-19 cases climbed to 1071 across the country, while the death toll rose to 29, according to the Health Ministry.
(Disclaimer: Additional background information has been added to this PTI copy for context)
(Edited by Suman Singh)