A Kerala state-run company is preparing for commercial production of India's most inexpensive emergency ventilator. The ventilator produced by Kerala State Drugs and Pharmaceuticals (KSDP) could cost Rs 7,500-8,000, according to a report by The Financial Express.
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The portable ventilator to be manufactured by KSDP is based on a model developed by NIT-Calicut. At present, the lowest-priced non-invasive ventilator used to treat COVID-19 patients costs around Rs 15,000.
"We expect to go into production by July-end, provided we get go-ahead from Kerala Government and from ICMR. The prototype by NIT researchers had been vetted and validated by doctors at Calicut Medical College," CM Chandrababu, Chairman, KSDP told the publication.
KSDP has already set up a manufacturing plant, which has the capacity to produce 200 ventilators in a month.
Approvals are unlikely to be delayed since there is a short-supply of ventilators in the country during the COVID-19 outbreak, the report said.
"We could cut the costs of production because except for its German imported top quality air vacuum system, all components are indigenous," Chandrababu told Financial Express.
Though KSDP usually manufactures medicines, it has been preparing to manufacture medical devices since March, at the request of the Kerala government.
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