Ultraviolet light has established itself as one of the most convenient way to disinfect during coronavirus crisis. Unlike chemical approaches to disinfection, UV light provides rapid, effective inactivation of microorganisms through a physical process. We can put up a (UV) lamp in a room, close it and in 15 minutes, the entire room becomes safe to use. Few Indian companies had identified the need and opportunity in early days of the spread of coronavirus and developed some wonderful products which are useful for a variety of applications.
Now established as a trend, Indian companies again have been able to develop technologically advanced UV Products in a cost-effective manner. These companies thus not only able to get traction inside the country, but their products are also now becoming popular abroad.
African countries, where India has always been the preferred exporter of engineering products, have increasingly become favoured destination for various other products too. In fact, Modi Government has been looking at increasing export to India-friendly countries in the African region. Indian manufacturers are increasingly looking at export opportunities to offset the loss in domestic sales. Recently, UV-C products have also shown good promise in the African market.
Despite transportation problems and high freight charges, significant number of UV products have been exported in June, July and August to Africa. The demand is high particularly for the UVC disinfection boxes, which are equally useful for both offices and households, and UVC lamps which have found good traction in offices, doctors’ clinics, education institutes and hotels. South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Morocco are seeing a late but rapid surge in covid cases and hence are good markets for disinfection products.
Mr. Nana Yaw Frimpong, a businessman from Ghana while speaking on market of disinfection products said, “There is a big need of UVC disinfection products in Ghana, in both public and private sector. We trust Indian manufacturers and have been dealing with them and hence placed initial orders of Disinfection lamps with the company Nessa. The performance is excellent. These products would help revive the economy by opening offices and Govt departments fast. Given the market scenario, items, I feel the need of this will grow more and more.”
One of the Indian companies leading the pack is Ahmedabad based Nessa Illumination Technologies, founded by IIT Bombay and IIM Ahmedabad alumnus Akshat Khare. The company, which has been manufacturing LED products, has been able to quickly generate good demand for its UV Products. Within two months of launch, Nessa is now getting orders across India. The company has also made inroads in African and Middle Eastern companies for its UC products.
Products like Coronabox, surface and air disinfection lamp, handheld battery operated UVC lamp priced in the range of Rs 4990 to 13990 are available for sale on the company website as well as e-commerce platform like Amazon. Since UVC radiation is harmful to humans, Nessa has got safety certifications and NABL lab test reports for its UVC products.
Speaking to OpIndia on the effectiveness of UVC technology on coronavirus, Khare said, “Our research is further substantiated by recent research papers being published worldwide by various universities and laboratories which show UVC radiation, especially 254 nm and 222 nm wavelength, effectively deactivates coronavirus if supplied in the right dose.”
At a time, when the government is working hard to increase export to improve the trade balance, UVC Products have shown a ray of hope. The usage of UV Products is not only important for the economic growth of the country but it is also critical in our fight against Coronavirus. With the help of UV products, we can reduce the spread considerably. More importantly, it will reduce the fear amongst people to use an object or a room once it gets sanitised with the help of UV light.
In the current coronavirus pandemic, such products can greatly help control the crisis while ensuring safety of all and help the government in its “Unlocking” process.
