The Department of Science and Technology (DST) has called Indian startups and firms applications for developing new technologies and innovative products that would enable the country to fight the second wave of the Covid pandemic better.

These applications will be fast-tracked and given funding under a new initiative called NIDHI4COVID2.0. The thrust areas would be oxygen innovation, portable solution, relevant medical accessories, diagnostic, informatics, or any other solution that addresses/mitigate various challenges faced by the country/society due to the severe impact of Covid-19, an official statement said.

This will be a special drive of DST's National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) for supporting indigenous solutions and innovative products. Seed support will be given to the development and manufacturing of products and parts currently being imported for the devices such as Oxygen Concentrators. In addition, promising startups will be provided with financial and mentoring support for scaling up their products or technologies to the next level and speeding up their processes, helping them reach the product deployment stage as fast as possible.

“Supporting the development of devices like Oxygen Concentrators also brings with it huge opportunities in the development and manufacturing of several critical components that are being imported such as specialized valves, zeolite materials, oil-less and noiseless miniaturized compressors, gas sensors, etc. which have wider applications in several sectors,” said Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, DST.

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