Union Human Resource Development Minister, Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank  e-launched what is claimed to be the world’s most affordable RT-PCR based COVID-19 diagnostic kit,Corosure, developed by researchers at IIT- Delhi and approved by the ICMR and DCGI in New Delhi on July 15,2020. Two million kits are likely to be available in August.
Launching the product, Mr Pokhriyal said that the Corosure, COVID-19 Diagnostic Kit developed by Indian Institute of Technology Delhi is a step towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a self-reliant India. 
The Minister appreciated Prof. Vivekanandan Perumal and his research team of IIT Delhi for developing of COVID-19 diagnostic kit. The team includes Prashant Pradhan (PhD Scholar), Ashutosh Pandey (PhD Scholar), Praveen Tripathi (PhD Scholar), Dr. Akhilesh Mishra, Dr. Parul Gupta, Dr. Sonam Dhamija, Prof. Manoj B. Menon, Prof. Bishwajit Kundu and Prof. James Gomes.
The kit has received ICMR approval with the highest score and DCGI approved with a very high sensitivity and specificity.
He said that this affordable detection kit will help the country amid the ongoing crisis. Pokhriyal informed that Corosure, the probe-free diagnostic kit has been manufactured by Delhi NCR-based Newtech Medical Devices. The Minister appreciated that a leading educational institution under MHRD and a private company have joined hands during this epidemic in the interest of the nation. 
The HRD minister informed that the diagnostic kit developed by IIT Delhi, which will be now available for use by the authorised testing labs with this launch, will significantly bring down the cost of COVID-19 RT-PCR testing. The base price of the RT-PCR assay is Rs 399. Even after adding the RNA isolation and laboratory charges, the cost per test will be considerably cheaper compared to currently available kits in the market.
 The Minister added that IIT Delhi has given license to 10 companies to manufacture COVID-19 diagnostic kit using the technology developed by its researchers.
Mr Jatin Goyal, Founder, Newtech Medical Devices  while thanking the minister said, " Using the unique technology developed by IIT Delhi and our expertise in reagent and kit-making, we have ensured an accurate, affordable, Make-in-India kit for the diagnosis of Sars-CoV2, which is a ‘probe-free’ method, and reduces the testing cost without compromising on accuracy. We are anticipating two million kits by next month.”
In April 2020, IIT Delhi became the first academic institution to obtain the ICMR’s approval for a real-time PCR-based diagnostic assay. It was also the first probe-free assay for COVID-19 approved by the ICMR. The assay was validated at the government’s medical research body with a sensitivity and specificity of 100%.
MoS for HRD, Mr Sanjay Dhotre, the Secretary, Higher Education, Mr Amit Khare and senior HRD ministry officials  were present during the launch.

The diagnostic kit developed by IIT Delhi, which will be now available for use by the authorised testing labs with this launch, will significantly bring down the cost of COVID-19 RT-PCR testing