Wheelchair Manufacturing

Assistive services, devices and technology are a necessity for many persons with severe and profound disabilities to allow them to independently carry out daily activities, personal mobility and enable public participation.

In Nepal, persons with disabilities often obtain wheelchairs as donations from local and international non-government organisations (frequently sourced as secondhand donations from abroad). Although well-intentioned, these chairs are often not suited to the conditions in Nepal and are rarely well fitted for their users. Some recipients of these wheelchairs have faced additional physical disorders and distress due to the unsuitable designs and structure. For example, an individual who lives in a hilly village area may be given a bulky chair without sufficient breaks- a serious safety hazard.

CIL-Kathmandu believes that wheelchairs should be provided on a needs basis, through a rights-based approach, not charity-based. The need for quality, fitted, portable, durable and lightweight wheelchairs in Nepal has always been great.

In 2012, CIL-Kathmandu successfully produced 28 model aluminium wheelchairs by using local technicians and the support of the Ministry of Women Children and Social Welfare.

After the devastating 2015 Earthquake, CIL-Kathmandu was inundated with requests for wheelchairs from across the country.  With our partners, we produced and distributed 200 manual wheelchairs to those in need.

Acknowledging the value of locally produced wheelchairs, in late 2017 the Nepal Government provided support for CIL-Kathmandu to establish an independent wheelchair manufacturing workshop in Balaju Industrial area. Our supporting partner, Infinity Lab (an association of mechanical engineers), has worked closely with CIL-Kathmandu to renovate and fit the workshop, source wheelchair manufacturing technicians and to research and produce suitable high-quality wheelchairs with a greater consideration of comfort and the physically challenging terrain in many parts of Nepal.

If you, or someone you know, would like a wheelchair assessment, please contact us for more information.

Infinity Lab Team Members

Er. Sunil Pariyar

Co-Founder of Infinity Lab (R&D) & Design Engineer

Er. Gaurav Rasaili

Mechanical Engineer

Er. Prashant Singh

Mechanical Engineer

Mr. Kusum Shrestha

Technician Head

Leopard Electric Wheelchair

Following the success of the manual wheelchairs, the team of engineers and CIL-Kathmandu staff, turned their hands to creating Nepal’s very first domestically-produced electric wheelchair. The chair, named ‘Leopard’, was launched in late 2017. Leopard can run for 25km on one charge at a speed of 10km/hour and its location can be traced through mobile applications.

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