50 Percent of India’s COVID-19 PPE Kits Manufactured in Bengaluru

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said that India could now produce 1 lakh PPE kits daily.

What all goes into a PPE? Doctors demonstrate. (Image used for representation)

(Photo: PTI)

Bengaluru has emerged as the hub for production of personal protective equipment (PPE) in India, with 50% of the country’s total number of kits being manufactured per day in the city alone, the Union government said on Sunday, 26 April.

The Union government on Sunday said that the production capacity of PPE kits worn by medical professionals treating COVID-19 patients has reached 1 lakh kits per day and the cumulative production of PPE kits is one million coveralls, the Deccan Herald reported.

In a press briefing, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said, “Bengaluru has become a major hub for PPE coverall production in the country to combat COVID-19 cases. Nearly 50% of the overall production in the country is from Bengaluru.”

A report by Economic Times stated that HLL Life Care Limited is the designated single-window procurement agency for all hospitals and agencies coming under the purview of the MoHFW.

The manufacture of PPE kits increased in Karnataka after the government relaxed norms in certain districts surrounding Bengaluru, which did not have COVID-19 cases, the DH report stated.

Apart from Bengaluru, PPE kits are also being manufactured in MoHFW-approved units located in Tirupur, Chennai and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. These are the only places in south India that have approved manufacturing units of PPE kits. In other  parts of the country, the kits are being manufactured in Bhiwandi and Kusumnagar in Maharashtra, Ahmedabad and Vadodara in Gujarat, Ludhiana and Phagwara in Punjab, Dungarpur in Rajasthan, Kolkata, New Delhi, Noida and Gurugram among a few other places, the ET report stated.

On 2 March, the MoHFW finalised technical requirements for the manufacture of PPE kits locally. HLL Life Care Ltd was designated as the single-window procurement agency for hospitals and healthcare organisations under the MoHFW and the ministry on 5 March had published the specifications and also invited manufacturers to participate in the procurement of the equipment.

Currently, there are four labs in the country which have the Synthetic Blood Penetration Resistance Test facilities. These are also the labs that approve tests and certification for PPE required for COVID-19. The four labs include South India Textiles Research Association located in Coimbatore, Defence Research and Development Establishment in Gwalior, Heavy Vehicles Factory in Avadi and Small Arms Factory in Kanpur, the ET report added.

Prototypes of the PPE kits are sent to these labs by manufacturers. Samples of the materials are taken and a Unique Certification Code (UCC-COVID19) is generated. This code records the fabric used, type of garment, date of testing, testing standard among other particulars that are tested.

(The article was first published in The News Minute and has been republished with permission)