Published 17:16 IST, July 7th 2020
AgVa rejects Rahul Gandhi's claims on their ventilators; says willing to give him a demo
Professor Diwakar Vaish, the owner of AgVa ventilators said that there was an international nexus trying to sabotage the ingenious efforts
Responding to the statements made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi calling the ventilators procured under PM CARES 'substandard', Professor Diwakar Vaish, the owner of AgVa the manufacturer of the ventilators said that there was an international nexus trying to sabotage the ingenious efforts. "We have not made the ventilator overnight. We have been in the market for three years. We have developed this step by step. This ventilator has all parameters that a normal ventilator has," he said.
'International nexus is very strong'
"In this, international vendor nexus is very strong. Just like when Indian military equipment was indigenised, there was a lot of negative reviews. The same thing is happening here. What a Rs 10 lakh ventilator does, ours is doing for Rs 1.5 lakh. Will international associations, international vendors accept this? That is why they are trying to sabotage," said Vaish in an interview to news agency ANI.
Our ventilator is 5-10 times cheaper, normally it costs 10-15 lakh, ours is for 1.5 lakh. International vendor nexus is very strong in this market, will they appreciate success of indigenous products?: Prof. Diwakar Vaish, Co-founder AgVa Healthcare,ventilators under PMCARES Fund pic.twitter.com/ANtKOsHklt
— ANI (@ANI) July 7, 2020
'I can give him a demo'
Rahul Gandhi on July 5 quoted a report by an international publication accusing PM Modi of "putting Indian lives at risk" by procuring "substandard products". The article had put down India's indeciduous ventilator manufacture AgVa claiming that their software was "faulty" and that they exhibited "poor results."
Professor Diwakar Vaish slammed Rahul Gandhi for his comments saying that if he wanted, he could give him a demo to explain the functioning of the ventilators. "Rahul Gandhi is not a doctor. He is an intelligent man. He should have done due diligence before making such allegations. He should have consulted doctors. I am ready to give a detailed demonstration in the hospital on any patient," Vaish said
The central government has ordered 10,000 of the AgVa's indigenously-produced ventilators to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. "We got support from the Make in India and Invest India. We admit that we are a small company. We used to make 50-100 ventilators every month. But after coronavirus pandemic, we improved our production and now produce between 5,000 to 10,000 ventilators every month... We got support from Maruti, Invest India, BHEL and BEL to move forward," Vaish said.
(With ANI Inputs)
Updated 17:16 IST, July 7th 2020