Cows drink water at a breeding base of the Musha Ranch in Zhongwei, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Sept. 14, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)

An Indian government body has launched a series of products made from cow dung, including lights and a new kind of "chip," shocking and amusing Chinese netizens, some of whom joked that this was the country's blind attempt at "Made in India."

Without explaining how the technology works, Vallabhbhai Kathiria, head of India's National Cow Commission set up in 2019said on Monday the "chip" could simply be placed inside a mobile phone's protective cover to protect people from cellphone radiation, according to local media reports.

"Cow dung is anti-radiation asit protects all. If you bring this home, your place will become radiation-free... All this has been approved by science," he said.

The related hashtag "India develops cow-dung chip" began trending on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo on Wednesday. Chinese netizens said they do not believe it was a serious scientific discovery.

"Is there someone who understands the working theory of the 'chip' and could you explain it to me? Are you sure this is not a joke?" one netizen wrote.

Another netizen connected the news with the launch of iPhone's new-landing type iPhone 12 and joked, "The reason I will not buy iPhone 12 is that it does not have a cow dung chip."

The research was seen by many as a blind attempt to promote "Made in India." 

"I can understand your urgent need to develop your own products, but please be more rational. Or it only seems like a joke," netizen "gua83" wrote.

A lamp was another product made from cow dung that was introduced. India plans to produce more than 330 million cow-dung lamps to compete with the popular Chinese lights during the coming Diwali festival on November 14.

Some Indian media reported in September that around 90 percent of the lights sold in India are made in China.

Some netizens, including overseas Net users, threw cold water on the idea of cow-dung lights, wondering whether the lamps would cause air pollution and be harmful to human health.