Covid-19: Domestic firms diversify to ramp up availability of PPE kits

According to HLL Lifecare, a nodal government-owned body that has been tasked to procure PPE kits, the country immediately needs 10 million PPE kits, including N-95 masks

With India facing an acute shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) kits, several domestic firms, starting from toymakers to apparel manufacturers, have now decided to manufacture them. Apart from their scanty supply, the PPE kits that are imported from China are allegedly of poor quality and unable to provide effective protection to frontline heath and sanitation workers.

Bengaluru-based medical equipment company Caremont, which was until now manufacturing gloves and disposable gowns, is now starting to manufacture PPE gear. For this, the company is procuring polypropylene non-woven fabric from mills in Coimbatore and Tirupur area. Caremont is manufacturing 2,000 such kits,