NEW DELHI: The government will purchase 50,000 ventilators manufactured within the country worth Rs 2,000 crore from the funds collected under the PM CARES trust, the Prime Minister Ofice (PMO) said on Wednesday. The PMO said a sum of Rs 3,100 crore has been allocated for measures to deal with the containment of the Covid-19.
“PM CARES (Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations) Fund Trust today decided to allocate Rs 3,100 Crore for the fight against COVID-19. Out of Rs 3,100 crore, a sum of approximately Rs 2,000 crore will be earmarked for the purchase of ventilators, Rs 1,000 crores will be used for the care of migrant labourers and Rs 100 crore will be given to support vaccine development,” the PMO said in a statement.
The 50,000 made-in-India ventilators will be provided to government-run Covid-19 hospitals in all states and UTs, the statement added.The PMO also said the states and the UTs will be given lumpsum assistance of Rs 1,000 crore from the PM CARES. It said funds will be released on the weightage of the population as per the 2011 Census (50 per cent), the number of positive cases (40 per cent) and equal share (10 per cent) for all states/UTs to ensure basic minimum sum for all.