Government has certified nearly 80 Made in India VTM kits, RT-PCR kits and RNA extraction kits for testing of Coronavirus, paving way for their indigenous production and reduced dependence on imports.

So far largely USFDA approved kits were permitted in India due to paucity of validation and certifications labs in the country as a result of which several hundreds of applications by start-ups were stuck for approval, a senior government official said.

According to the Indian Council of Medical research status report dated June 5, of the 224 applications evaluated by the regulator, 131 have been recommended for commercial production. Of this, over 58 per cent or 77 of these are indigenous products, developed in India and will be manufactured here. These include 16 RT-PCR kits, 31 RNA Extraction kits and 33 viral transport medium (VTM) kits.

While VM kits are used for transporting the swab samples, RNA extraction kit is used to extract RNA from the swab sample which then goes for testing and research. The RT-PCR kit is then used to study gene expression, both at the level of testing and research.

“The whole idea is to boost innovation and encourage Make in India. We felt there was a need to provide a level playing field for indigenous products as this would make India self-reliant, much on the lines of the vision of the PM,” the official said.