Rajkot's Jyoti CNC makes indigenous ventilators costing ₹1 lakh

In a major accomplishment towards the fight against coronavirus, a Rajkot-based CNC machine tools maker, Jyoti CNC Automation Ltd has developed an indigenous ventilator costing at about one-sixth of what is presently available in the market.

Named as "Dhaman-1" (blower that pumps the air) was developed within just 10 days at Jyoti CNC's Rajkot facility and costs ₹1 lakh against ₹6 lakh priced per piece in the market. The company's chairman and managing director, Parakramsinh Jadeja, informed that the production has begun and the initial 1,000 units of ventilators will be donated to the Gujarat government for Covid-19 and other needy patients.

“We have developed this product keeping in mind the Make in India mission. It required several imported parts to be used for it. Since imports were tough at this time, we sourced parts from about 26 different companies from across India. To develop this pressure controlled ventilators, we had deployed a team of about 150 engineers under the leadership of Rajendra Parmar, who led this project,” Jadeja said here.

The company currently has the capacity to manufacture about 10 pieces every day. “The production has already begun and three units have been provided to the government,” said Jadeja.

The indigenously developed ventilator was tested on a patient at Ahmedabad Civil hospital on Saturday and that gave positive results.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani welcomed the development and stated that Rajkot has set a landmark in public health equipment manufacturing.

“Gujarat is setting an example of Make in India. In this pandemic crisis across the world, there is a shortage of ventilators. In such a challenging situation, our Rajkot's entrepreneur has showcased the true spirit of innovation.”

Rajkot is a hub for auto parts and engineering tools manufacturing and supplies spare-parts to domestic and international buyers including defence, railways and space applications.

Nitin Patel, Deputy Chief Minister and also the State Health Minister highlighted that ventilators are extremely crucial for Covid-19 patients. “The ventilators, which are available in the market cost about ₹6 lakh, while Jyoti CNC has developed this ventilator at ₹1 lakh, which would be a big relief for the healthcare sector.”

Jadeja further informed that after successful rollout of Dhaman-1, the company will also look at upgraded versions of the product with higher capacities.

According to State health department officials, the State has about 2,761 ventilators including at the government hospitals and private facilities. With the spread of the coronavirus, additional 1,000 ventilators will be purchased separately.