IIT Delhi's low-cost rapid antigen test kit launched

NEW DELHI: Union minister of state for education, Sanjay Dhotre, launched a rapid antigen and accurate diagnostic kit for COVID-19 developed by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi on Friday. The low-cost kit will come at a price of just Rs 50.

“I congratulate IIT Delhi for coming up with a very low-cost test kit which can reach villages and the remotest area”, said Dhotre adding, “All the IITs have worked hard to address the need during the pandemic."

“I am also thankful to IIT Delhi for making PPE kits which were never made in our country before. The PPE kits were exported too. This is a big achievement,” he added.

Speaking at the inauguration, V Ramgopal Rao, director, IIT Delhi said that the kit has got ICMR (Indian Council for Medical Research) and DGCI (Drug Controller General of India) clearances and that they have licensed the technology to two companies.

In July 2020, IIT Delhi had developed the world’s most affordable RT-PCR based COVID-19 diagnostic kit at Rs. 399.

The institute had also developed high-quality PPE kits, “we are now disrupting the rapid diagnostic market for covid”, said Rao in a social media post.

“I am particularly excited that this technology can help reach rural areas for testing, and by rapid testing, we should be able to prevent any further cases and the country can benefit from this,” said Rao

“We are excited about this development”, said Rao, adding “Prof. Harpal Singh and his team from Center for Biomedical Engineering, IIT Delhi have developed this technology. The technology has been patented by IIT Delhi.”

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