New Delhi, Aug 1 (IANS): The Group of Ministers (GoM) on COVID-19 on Saturday agreed to the proposal of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to allow the export of made-in-India ventilators.

The export prohibition on ventilators was imposed in March to ensure domestic availability to effectively fight COVID-19. Now, with this decision, the Ministry hopes that the manufacturers of domestic ventilators would be in a position to find new markets in foreign countries.

Currently, only 0.22 percent of the active cases are on ventilators across the country.

"Additionally, there has been substantial growth in the domestic manufacturing capacity of ventilators. Compared to January, there are presently more than 20 domestic manufacturers for ventilators," said Ministry officials.

This significant decision comes on the heels of India continuing to maintain a progressively declining low rate of case fatality of patients, which currently stands at 2.15%, and means that fewer numbers of active cases are on ventilators.

This decision has been communicated to the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) for further action to facilitate the export of indigenously manufactured ventilators.

On Saturday, India reported a new record surge of 57,118 fresh infections, taking the total number of cases to 16,95,988. The country also witnessed 764 COVID-19 related deaths in the last 24 hours. The total fatalities due to the virus now stand at 36,511.