Ashok Leyland develops low-cost ventilator

Ashok Leyland, one of India’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturers, says it has developed a low-cost ventilator with all essential features to aide First Mile ventilation as part of its efforts to help contain COVID-19 in the country.

The development of ventilator, which was done by a team of 50 Ashok Leyland engineers, is now complete, while testing, certification and clinical trials will conclude in the next few weeks, with the mass manufacture of this system starting this month.

“In the mid-range and high-end ICU ventilator segments, Ashok Leyland is working with two Chennai based ventilator manufacturers viz. Kriti Kare India Pvt Ltd, a manufacturer of the ACUvent ventilators since 2014 and Phoenix Medical Systems Pvt Ltd, a 30-year-old firm who are market leaders,” the company said in a statement.

It also added that the company is offering help with component sourcing, supply chain, logistics, manpower for production planning and in line-quality which will help both the ventilator manufacturers to overcome the challenge of large-scale production in a short duration of time.

“Our sourcing and engineering teams have been working 24x7 on these three projects. We are humbled that our efforts in developing these ventilators and support to ventilator makers will help the government to prepare themselves for the future needs of people needing ventilator care,” Vipin Sondhi, Managing Director, and CEO, Ashok Leyland, said.

Ashok Leyland was approached by the Government of India and the Government of Tamil Nadu to work with and support ventilator makers and help them improve supply chain and output capacity.

In response, the Company took a holistic approach to address the entire gamut of requirements in COVID-19 patient breathing assistance, rather than working with just one party and one product, the statement said.

After discussing with various clinical experts and intensivists, the company identified the gap that there was no ready solution available for relevant and robust first-mile ventilation, it added.