Mahindra to make ventilators to help fight the Covid19 crisis

Pawan Goenka, managing director of Mahindra and Mahindra announced in a series of tweets the steps the Mahindra group has been taking to assist in the manufacturing of ventilators. He also laid out plans showcasing how the group's sectors, like its resorts, will be converted into isolation centres for Covid19 patients. This comes just a day after Chairman Anand Mahindra announced the brand's intentions for a proactive role in the fight against this pandemic.

Ventilator 1: we at Mahindra are overwhelmed with pouring in of support from individuals and companies for our effort to make available ventilators. Thank you all. As many are curious to know the status, I am using this medium to update. @PMOIndia @MahindraRise

— Pawan K Goenka (@GoenkaPk) March 26, 2020

Mahindra's engineering teams have been working at its R&D facilities in Igatpuri and Mumbai to come up with a prototype ventilator within just 48 hours and they have delivered a working model. A small video of this was shared on Twitter by Anand Mahindra.

So, so proud of our Kandivali & Igatpuri teams who confined themselves to the factories & without sleep produced this in 48hrs. With humility, we will seek guidance from specialists on the usefulness of the device. Whatever the outcome, they have shown India fights back... pic.twitter.com/LrVXm4Acku

— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) March 26, 2020

The engineering team has received feedback from experts for the field and will get to work on getting the final ventilator ready for manufacturing. These ventilators, once manufactured, are expected to cost Rs 7500, a fraction of the cost of what an actual ventilator costs.

Ventilator 3: at other end we are working on an automated version of the Bag Valve Mask ventilator (commonly known as Ambu bag). We hope to have a Proto ready in 3 days for approval. Once proven this design will be made available to all for manufacturing. @PMOIndia @MahindraRise

— Pawan K Goenka (@GoenkaPk) March 26, 2020

Pawan Goenka, MD, Mahindra and Mahindra, mentioned they are working on an automated version of the bag valve mask ventilation also commonly known as the Ambu bag. Mahindra hopes to have a working prototype ready within the next three days pending the necessary medical and government approval. Once approved, Mahindra will have the designs open-sourced, allowing other manufacturers to make them as well.

Lastly, Goenka also revealed the group's plans of working with two public sector undertakings to help scale up the manufacturing of these ventilators, and that they are working side-by-side with Mahindra’s engineering teams. We have to commend all the efforts that are being undertaken by these manufacturers in such a time of crisis