Bharat Dynamics Ltd, IIT Kanpur start-up collaborate to produce affordable ventilators

Giving a big boost to the development of affordable ventilators for Covid-19 treatment, Bharat Dynamics Ltd. (BDL), a premier Defence Public Sector Undertaking, has come forward for the large scale manufacturing of the ventilators developed by Nocca Robotics, an incubated start-up of IIT Kanpur.

An MoU to this effect,was signed recently between BDL, IIT Kanpur,IIT Kanpur's incubator Foundation for Innovation and Research in Science and Technology (FIRST) and Nocca Robotics Private Limited(NRPL).

"Our project for developing an affordable ventilator has been going from strength to strength and now, with Bharat Dynamics Ltd supporting us, we will be able to scale up the production and make this critical device widely available as a 'Make in India' product. I am very grateful to Commodore Siddharth Mishra, CMD, BDL for taking this initiative and I would like to invite more such enterprises to join hands with us in our aim to encourage indigenous design and development," said Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Director, IIT Kanpur here in a statement on Tuesday.

"I am truly impressed by what the young engineers from IIT Kanpur have been able to achieve in such a short time and I hope that more such innovative solutions will come from Indian technopreneurs. I am happy that BDL has partnered with IIT Kanpur in manufacture of these ventilators on a large scale. Together, we will strive our best to serve the nation at this critical hour," said Commodore Siddharth Mishra (Retd), Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Dynamics Limited(BDL).

In response to the Prime Minister's call, Nocca Robotics designed and developed a high-end yet affordable, indigenous ventilator necessary for providing life support to critically ill COVID-19 patients under the overall supervision of IIT Kanpur team led by Prof Amitabha Bandyopadhyay. Apart from providing support to the critical patient, the ventilator's design also has unique features to safeguard the frontline healthcare workers from exposure to the virus.

At the helm of this innovation are three young graduates of IIT Kanpur Nikhil Kurele, Harshit Rathore and Tushar Agarwal. To support this ambitious project,a group of eminent business leaders, medical devices industry experts, and experienced clinicians from India and abroad, came forward and provided their mentorship to the whole project.

Association of BDL with the team from early April 20 has provided the right impetus to the project and has also enabled valuable guidance and inputs from Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS).

The outcome of this synergy is that, within five weeks, NRPL has moved from inception to production of the fully functional prototype that is in conformity of the technical features and specifications released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.