Defence PSUs and Ordnance Factory Board have Channelised their Resources for Fighting Coronavirus

A key role has been played by Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) and Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) in assisting civilian administration in fight against COVID-19 pandemic. These vital institutions of Department of Defence Production (DDP), Ministry of Defence have channelised all their resources, technical knowhow and manpower to help the nation fight the deadly virus.

Scientists and personnel of DPSUs and OFB have put extraordinary efforts and fruits borne by them are as follows:-

• Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL):- Isolation ward facility with 3 bed ICU and 30 beds in wards was set up HAL, Bengaluru. 30 rooms building was readied in which 93 persons can be accommodated. 25 PPEs distributed to Doctors in various Hospitals in Bangalore which are authorised to treat Covid-19 patients. 160 aerosol boxes distributed to Government Hospitals in Bengaluru, Mysore, Mumbai, Pune, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. 

• Bharat Electronic Limited (BEL):- 30,000 ventilators within two months for ICUs in the country as per MoHFW guidelines to be manufactured. BEL is likely to start manufacturing of ventilators between April 20-24,2020. It is also making efforts to indigenise these components with the help of DRDO.

•  Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL):- It is developing a prototype of ventilator  likely to be tested and certified by 1st week of May. It is working on this project with the help of a private start-up of Pune. 

• Defence PSU M/s BEML:- Joined  efforts for large scale production of ventilators. Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) has manufactured 25 sets of five components for M/s Skanray, Mysore for manufacturing of ventilators by them. 

• Ordnance Factory Board:-

(i) It heads 40 Ordnance Factories and has started supply of coveralls conforming to ISO Class 3 exposure standard. 

(ii) Present production rate is 800 per day which are to be ramped up to 1,500 per day.

(iii) OFB has also manufactured 5,870 PPEs which have been distributed to HLL, CMO, Firozabad besides its own hospitals in Ordnance Factories. 

(iv) Special 2-metre tents  developed  for medical emergency, screening, hospital triage and quarantine purposes. These are made up of waterproof fabric, mild steel and aluminium alloy.

(v) About 420 tents distributed to Odisha State Medical Corporation, Joly Grant Hospital in Dehradun, DMA, Arunachal Pradesh and Punjab Police, Chandigarh. The OFB has also taken up repairs of ventilators. 

(vi)About 53 ventilators repaired and given to TSIMDC, Telangana. 

(vii) 60,230 litres of sanitisers manufactured which have been distributed to units of HLL at Indore, Belgavi, Thiruvananthapuram, Central Railways, MECL, Nagpur district administration, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Cantonment Board Willington, DM Nagpur, DRM Solapur besides its own hospitals in Ordnance Factories.

(viii) Two test facilities for blood penetration  established, at Chennai and  Kanpur. 

(ix)  1,11,405 masks manufactured which have been distributed to Tamil Nadu Police, district civil and police authorities in Firozabad and Agra, Cantonment Board Shahjahanpur, Government of Uttarakhand, District Health Officer Shahjahanpur, Military Intelligence, etc.