Tata launches faster COVID-19 test as cases rise

The nasal swab test, developed jointly by Tata and the government, is also more accurate than the rapid antigen test currently favoured in India, the ministry of science and technology said in September.

Tata Medical and Diagnostics, the healthcare arm of the cars-to-clothes conglomerate, will begin manufacturing 1 million kits a month at its plant in the southern city of Chennai and can then scale up rapidly, CEO Girish Krishnamurthy told Reuters in an interview.

TataMD CHECK, as the product is called, can return results in 90 minutes and will be sold through hospitals and laboratories from next month with the initial focus being on the home market, Krishnamurthy said.

“You don’t need big, expensive equipment to do the test, so it becomes more accessible and available, and more labs can start testing,” he said.

A process based on artificial intelligence and automation will be used to test swabs, Krishnamurthy said.