Gurgaon-based Arista Vault on Friday said it has developed a device that can disinfect items like mobile phones, currency notes and masks, and would make it available at less than half the price of imported devices.
The product, named 'Shuddhi Box', uses ultraviolet-C rays, ozone and a mix of other technologies to disinfect surfaces and kill viruses like the novel coronavirus.
Arista Vault co-founder and CEO Purvi Roy said the company has started producing around 1 lakh units per month and is in talks with other players and contract manufacturers to scale up the production to 5 lakh units a month from July.
"UV-C in specific wavelength with the specific environment condition and unique dosage of time and intensity will sanitize any surface it touches. We have applied that unique dosage to Shuddhi Box and also used 360 degree method and electro optical with the help of medical experts and scientists," Roy said.
The company, which has been incubated with support of the Software Technology Parks of India under the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), has started offering the devices for about Rs 5,000 a unit. The price will drop to around Rs 2,000 once the production is scaled up.
Currently, imported disinfectant devices sell for Rs 5,000-6,000.
"We are coming up with several products on this technology. We have received demands for devices to disinfect laptops and tablets. All products will be in the form of an enclosure and any material that can fit into the enclosure will get disinfected," Roy said.
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The government holds 10 per cent stake in Arista Vault after the company received funding under a scheme to promote entrepreneurship in the electronics sector.
"We worked under the guidelines of STPI, MeitY's Electropreneur Park to develop the Shuddhi Box with the help of Dr. Ashok Chowdhry, Associate Professor, Hepatologist, and Liver Transplant, ILBS Delhi. The technique was so far used in hospitals to sterilise surgical equipment. It can also sterilise banknotes," Roy said.
According to researchers at CDC USA and Journal of Virological Methods, the strength of the sun is strong enough to kill viruses like the novel coronavirus. The research team found that continuous low doses of far ultraviolet-C light can kill airborne flu viruses without harming human tissues.
"Shuddhi Box is based on the dose principal. Researchers say UV-C technology in the range of 253.7 nanometer wavelength is highly effective at killing bacteria and viruses by destroying the molecular bonds that hold their DNA together," Roy said.
Arista Vault has started delivering the device to hospitals and government organisations and is also selling it through the Government e-Marketplace (GeM).
"We are also working with our distribution partners and channel partners to define their zones for all India distributorships and to spread it across the country so that it can reach masses at a better price," Roy said.
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