Government provides 1,340 Made in India ventilators to states grappling with COVID-19

Nearly 3000 of the 50,000 'Made in India' ventilators sanctioned under the PM CARES fund to help COVID-19 patients have been manufactured and over 1,300 have been delivered to various states, an official statement said on Tuesday. The Centre delivered 275 ventilators each, procured through PM-CARES fund, to Maharashtra and Delhi, the worst-hit states by the Covid-19 pandemic. It has also placed orders for procuring 50,000 ventilators from domestic manufacturers, of which 1,340 machines that keep critically ill patients breathing have been delivered to six states, including Karnataka.

Karnataka has received 90 ventilators that were procured through PM-CARES Fund, while Gujarat received 175, Bihar got 100 and Rajasthan 75. Last month, the PM-CARES Fund had allocated Rs 2000 crore for supply of 50,000 ‘Made-in-India’ ventilators to government-run Covid hospitals in all states and union territories. The Centre had placed orders for supply of 30,000 ventilators with Bharat Electronics Limited. The remaining 20000 ventilators are being manufactured by AgVa Healthcare (10,000), AMTZ Basic (5,650), AMTZ High End (4,000) and Allied Medical (350). Besides ventilators, the PM-CARES Fund had allocated Rs 1,000 crore for welfare of migrant workers. The funds were allocated taking into account the population of the state and the number of positive Covid-19 cases.