Manufacturing of PPE, N95 mask ramped up; ensuring quality: Health ministry

India has significantly ramped up its production capacity of PPEs and N95 masks with three 300,000 each being manufactured daily and their quality is being ensured through stringent protocols, the Union health ministry said on Monday.

The statement comes following some new reports expressing concern about the quality of personal protective equipment (PPE) coveralls.

"There are some reports in a section of the media expressing concern about the quality of personal protective equipment (PPE) coveralls," the ministry said, clarifying that the products referred to in the reports have no relevance to the procurement being made by the central government.

HLL Lifecare is the procurement agency for hospitals and healthcare organisations under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The ministry said that the PPE coveralls are being procured from manufacturers/suppliers only after getting them tested and approved by one of the eight labs nominated by the Ministry of Textiles (MoT) for testing the same.

"It is only after their products qualify in the test prescribed by the technical committee (JMG) of the Ministry of Health that they are procured," the statement stated.

Further, the HLL is also undertaking random sampling of the supplies being made for which a testing protocol has been devised, it said. "In case of any failure, the company is being disqualified for any supplies," the ministry said.

All the states and UTs have been asked to ensure procurement which is being carried out at their level after following the prescribed testing for PPEs from the labs nominated by the MoT.

In addition, manufacturers who have got their products qualified from these labs are also being on-boarded on Government e-Marketplace (GeM).

The manufacturers who have got PPEs qualified have been advised by the MoT to on-board on to the GeM so that the procurement by states can be carried out accordingly.

For the private sector also, the dynamic information of manufacturers whose products have qualified the tests is available on the MoT website.

"India has significantly ramped up its domestic production capacity of PPEs and N95 masks, and the requirements of the states and UTs are being sufficiently met. Today, the country is producing more than 300,000 PPEs and N95 masks per day," the ministry said.

It said that states and UTs as well as central Institutions have been provided with around 11.1 million N95 masks and around 7.44 million PPEs.