Govt to fund projects for anti-Covid tech

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 17

Stepping up efforts to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Science and Technology has recommended funding of 16 projects for developing technologies that can be mass produced by the industry.

The ministry’s National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) had received 65 proposals from innovators, which were screened by an external technology expert committee.

Under the programme, the financial support will be extended for development of Covid-19 technologies in the area of tracking, testing and treatment, validation and authentication of products, registration of products with regulatory authorities, conducting field trials and bridging the gap between the lab scale development and industrial requirements.

The technologies selected for support are in the area of test kits, sanitisers, ventilators, PPEs, masks and treatment of Covid-19 hospital effluents. “This financial support would help the innovators and startups in accelerating the technology development process and bring the innovative technologies to the market place within the next one year,” Dr H Purushotham, Chairman and Managing Director, NRDC, said.