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Not very long ago, if you bought a fancy, attractively priced fragrant bedsheet, yoga mat, curtains, printed hand bags or any other home decor or gift item catching your eye on Flipkart or Amazon, it was most likely made in the factory of Gurgaon’s Swayam India. These days, the hottest-selling product of this Rs 100-crore-turnover company is the face mask.
Swayam India, which has been in business for about two decades, is one of the more than 500 manufacturers that have received licences from the central government to produce personal protective equipment (PPEs) to meet the stated objective of ramping up supply to 400,000 units a day. Among its customers are big corporate houses, private hospitals and even the hospitality sector. Swayam is one of the few manufacturers that are providing most of the PPEs specified by the government as a single point supplier – gloves, three-ply masks, body coveralls, face shield and shoe covers.
“The demand for PPEs will grow manifold as the number of cases rise. Once export restrictions are lifted, there will be a big uptake in orders across the world, as there are many countries where cases continue to rise,” says Manoj Garg, director of Swayam.
In the first week of May, India reportedly produced 200,000 PPEs a day. Now, with hundreds of more licences awarded, more people getting infected daily, and businesses looking to reopen with extreme caution in place, there has been an astronomical and undocumented rise in the demand and supply of PPEs. A businessman not wishing to be named said “everyone in the textile industry was talking of getting into the PPE business. There was a mad rush and frantic lookout for local and global tenders for their supply”.
In India, one of the foremost sourcers of PPEs from these manufacturers is the government-owned Hindustan Life Care Limited, which produces Moods brand of condoms. HLL in turn supplies these to hospitals and state medical procurement agencies across India. There are 95 manufacturers directly supplying to HLL. In addition, the ministry of textiles has listed three organisations – South India Textile Research Assoiation (Sitra), Ordnance Factory Board and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to issue unique certification codes (UCCs) to companies which are then allowed to supply PPEs to HLL.
Body coveralls are one of the most crucial aspects of PPEs – manufacturing it requires quality certification from various labs in India. These coveralls have to pass the synthetic blood penetration resistance test. According to the ministry’s specifications, these single-use coveralls should be impenetrable to blood and body fluids and be in culturally acceptable pleasing colours (there is a specific instruction to avoid black).
The ministry has also specified various criteria for other PPEs. The N-95 masks should maintain their shape, be fluid resistant with good breathability and an expiratory valve. Reusable face shields should cover the front and side of the face completely in addition to being made of clear plastic so that the face of the wearer is clearly visible to others. Even the three-ply surgical masks should be such that they block out 99 per cent particles three microns in size.
Many big companies like Arvind Ltd and Aditya Birla group, along with smaller manufacturers across the country, are now involved in manufacturing PPEs after getting licences. From lingerie makers, umbrella manufacturers and even household cloth makers, everyone has sensed a business opportunity in the Narendra Modi government’s call to ramp up production. Textile hubs of Tiruppur, Ludhiana and industrial centres like Coimbatore are the forefront of manufacturing PPEs for the domestic market at present.
Abhinav Arora, the owner of Ludhiana-based garment manufacturer Abhinav Impex, says he has completely stopped manufacturing woolen jackets and t-shirts to focus on making face masks for supplying to HLL. New orders for his products had completely dried up and no one was willing to even buy his existing inventory of garments. With many restrictions imposed on re-opening of factories, he has ensured that his workers and all equipment are sanitised and the quality of his products is checked before being dispatched.
Are the profit margins bigger on PPEs than on jackets and t-shirts that Abhinav Impex usually manufactures? Arora says: “This is not about margins. It is about lives and livelihoods. My revenues dried up and I still have to pay salaries to all my staffers. The workers making the face masks have to be housed and fed in the factory. These are tough times and I wish all this is over soon.”
