India needs to ramp up manufacturing of ventilator components: Amitabh Kant

Buoyed by the promise shown by domestic ventilator makers during the COVID crisis, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on Thursday exhorted manufacturers to further scale up capacity to emerge as a global supplier of the device and related components.

Speaking at a virtual conference of ventilator manufacturers and startups to discuss pathways for supporting indigenous manufacturing of ventilators, Kant said local makers supplied 60,000 ventilators in three months.

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The country, he said, now needs to ramp up manufacturing of ventilator components to capture the global market.

Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Secretary Guruprasad Mohapatra said India, under the aegis of Make in India initiative, has the potential to become a leading hub for manufacturing ventilators, which are affordable and portable. He too stressed on the need to initiate a drive to capture the expanding global market for ventilators.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chairman Sathish Reddy said necessary freedom and handholding have spurred innovations for high-quality and cost-effective ventilator solutions in the last three months among the startups.

MV Gautam, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), said the progress made by the ventilator sector in the last few months is an example of how a facilitative environment can scale up manufacturing through Make in India initiative.

Earlier, in April, Kant said there is a need to build a manufacturing base for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and ventilators not only for the COVID-19 outbreak, but for the future as well.

"There is a need to build a manufacturing base for PPEs and ventilators not only for #COVID19 response but for the future as well, in line with our objective of accelerating the #MakeInIndia resolve," the Niti Aayog said in a tweet quoting Kant.

The group headed by Kant is one of the 11 empowered groups of officers constituted by Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla for planning and ensuring implementation of COVID-19 response activities.