Covid: IIT-Delhi launches 'indigenous' rapid antigen test kit priced at ₹50

IIT-Delhi has come up with a rapid antigen test kit for Covid-19. The ICMR approved test kit gives results within five minutes. The 'first fully indigenous' kit will be available for purchase at ₹50. The RAT kit was launched by Union MoS for Education Sanjay Dhotre. The technology behind the test has been patented by IIT-Delhi. Prof. Harpal Singh of IIT-Delhi’s Centre for Biomedical Engineering said, “A method for detection of Covid is RT-PCR test but it's a time-taking process. People were looking for a self-testing kit which could be used at the patient's house. The method should be faster & must not require any lab facility. Today we have launched the rapid antigen based detection kit. There are many kits available, but ours is the first fully indigenous kit.” The IIT has awarded licenses to two firms in India for its commercial roll out.