Extraordinary Indigenous Measures

The alarming spread of Covid-19 has had the automotive industry respond with extraordinary measures like mass-producing indigenously built life-support systems and PPE.

- Ashish Bhatia

Ventilators are believed to give patients a 50-50 shot at survival, based on the early reports and claims coming in from across China, Italy and the United States. The probability of a 50 per cent success rate in saving lives amidst a high fatality rate the world over was enough for India to follow suit and ramp up the production of ventilators. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), India was estimated to require four million ventilators for a worst-case scenario of the Covid-19 outbreak. The country on the last count was making do with less than 50,000 units (excluding the order placed for 49,000 ventilators as announced by Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry). Limiting the approach to ramp up production and or imports was the high-cost factor. For instance, an imported ventilator is priced in the range of rupees 11-18 lakh compared to an Indian make priced in the range of rupees five to seven lakh. The central government’s move to grant exemption from basic customs duty and health cess, on the import and manufacture of these goods as per a statement of the Department of Revenue ensured automotive and component manufacturers went all out and played their part.