MUMBAI: ITI Ltd's shares on Monday hit the upper circuit of 20% at ₹87.35 as the company is likely to ink a deal with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) soon to produce portable ventilators, a first of its kind in India. "DRDO wants ITI to manufacture portable ventilators and is transferring technology to us.
Once we come up with a final product and after due test procedures, we'll be able to produce such ventilators," ITI chairman Rakesh Mohan Agarwal said in an exchange filing on Thursday.
In the wake of the covid-19 pandemic, medical experts say India would require several thousand ventilators and their absence may impair the ability of the country's healthcare system to respond to rising epidemic cases.