The Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ) is getting active to manufacture ventilators and testing kits for COVID-19. The Centre has already placed an order for 3,500 ventilators and assembling of the units will start from April 15 2020. For this, six companies have been selected in Phase -1.
It is planned that AMTZ will start with a capacity of making 3,000 ventilators in April 2020 and gradually scale it up to 6,000 per month from May 2020. Hindustan Lifecare (HLL) will assist in the assembly of the ventilators.
Moreover, the Centre is expected to make 10,000 COVID-19 testing kits per week and the capacity will be increased to 25,000 kits a week by May 2020. The required plant and machinery is being moved into Visakhapatnam to increase- based on demand.
Medical equipment manufacturing is a critical area that requires about 700 to 2,000 parts, most of which have to be imported from different international sources. The Indian Council of Medical Research has approved the kits to be manufactured at AMTZ while the Drug Controller General of India granted exemption from all manufacturing approvals for ventilators in view of the current crisis.