Bangalore: Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), a Navratna PSU under the Ministry of Defence, is happy to announce the successful completion of manufacturing 30,000 numbers of ICU ventilators in a record time to help the government in its efforts in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ministry of Health & Family Welfare had earlier placed an order for these 30,000 ICU ventilators in April 2020 to meet the healthcare infrastructure requirements of the nation, seeing the rise in COVID cases.
BEL has manufactured the ICU ventilator, Model CV 200, based on licensing agreement with M/s Skanray Technologies Private Ltd, Mysuru, and design support from Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The indigenisation efforts of DRDO, BEL and Skanray in addressing the non-availability of critical components like highly complex medical grade miniature proportional valves, on/off solenoid valves, oxygen sensors and flow sensors was certainly a game changer as India can now boast of a capable and mature medical electronics ecosystem.
After receiving the order, based on its Agile Production System Capability, within two weeks BEL established the manufacturing line to produce 500 to 1,000 ventilators per day.
Manufacturing of these ventilators was undertaken during severe lockdown period and BEL received immense support from various government agencies to resolve the supply chain disruptions. As manufacturing of these ventilators was centred at the Bangalore Unit of BEL, the Karnataka government took extra initiatives by earmarking a nodal IAS officer for BEL to liaison with, to resolve various lockdown related issues.
BEL also would like to make special mention of the support rendered by scores of Indian industries ranging from MSMEs to large business houses in supporting BEL towards manufacturing of 30,000 ventilators in a short span of time.
The valuable feedback received from the committee of expert doctors and hospitals pan India helped BEL to quickly upgrade the ventilator with additional modes of operation through software to address Indian COVID patient needs.
Seamless coordination between the central and state government authorities helped BEL in undertaking the installation and commissioning work expeditiously with the help of reputed private partners.
BEL would like to thank each and everyone who participated in this ambitious programme. BEL, DRDO, Skanray and all other industry partners are proud to be part of the GoI initiative in creating a capable ecosystem for manufacturing medical grade equipment indigenously and timely addressing of the healthcare needs of our nation. This is a true example of Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives undertaken by GoI.
