As prevention of Covid-19 would involve protective gear and sanitisation, Celkon, a home-grown mobile phone maker, has decided to tap the opportunity and set up a manufacturing facility at its Fab City here.

Announcing its foray into manufacturing of healthcare products, Celkon said it would use its existing facilities to manufacturing the products.

It entered into tie-ups with firms in Taiwan, Korea and Japan for components. The products are being designed to suit the local needs in India. The list would include wall-mounted automatic hand sanitisers, portable automatic sanitiser sprays, ultraviolet sterilisers, disinfection packs, face recognition thermometers and face shields.

Under the Celkon Health brand, it would launch PPE (personal protection equipment) and wireless chargers too. “We are going to start production by the month end. We will target hospitals, schools and businesses where they require the Covid-19 protective gear in large numbers,” Celkon Chairman and Managing Director Y Guru said.

“We were planning to diversify our presence in other core fields apart from mobile phones and related business. We are taking up production as part of the Make-in-India initiative,” he said.

The firm, which emerged a key mobile phone maker by opening facilities in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, has pared its capacities after top Chinese firms entered India with feature-rich smartphones at cheaper price points.

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