Hyderabad's childhood buddies aim to break Malaysia and China's dominance in glove making

Hyderabad: Childhood friends from Hyderabad are rewriting the playbook of the manufacturing landscape by establishing a global enterprise focused on glove production.

These friends identified an opportunity to manufacture nitrile gloves, which India imports from Southeast Asia countries.

Malaysia and China dominate the global glove supply chain, leveraging expertise and economies of scale. Industry insiders also pointed out that India is a dumping ground for rejected gloves from the US and other countries. Around Rs 60 Crore worth of gloves are imported every month, reducing opportunities for domestic players

The global glove market, valued at $16 billion in 2023, is on track to grow to $28 billion by 2030, fuelled by rising healthcare needs and expanding industrial applications. India’s glove market, which currently accounts for approximately 5% of the global market size, is poised for a significant boost, with projections indicating it could reach $1.2 billion by 2028.

For instance India administers 5.5 billion injections per day, thus creating a demand for 11 billion gloves daily with two gloves per injection.

This growth is being driven by India’s increasing healthcare infrastructure, rising industrial applications, and heightened hygiene awareness post-pandemic.

“Despite this demand, India faces significant challenges, such as a heavy reliance on imported gloves, which account for 75-80% of the market. Most of these imports are substandard and brought in gunny bags. They not only undermine domestic manufacturers but also expose the market to quality control risks. Furthermore, Regulatory gaps and the absence of protective import duties hinder local production capabilities,” said Enliva co-founder Shaaz. Mehmood,

India has over 20–25 latex glove manufacturers—many in Kerala—but very few nitrile glove manufacturers. Most Indian manufacturing companies focus more on surgical gloves than examination gloves, which have a higher demand. There is also no strong industry body or legislation to support large-scale manufacturing in India. Industry players have been demanding the government to control anti-dumping duty and implement a PLI scheme, which will help scale up the capacity

Realising the potential of medical gloves manufacturing during the Covid pandemic times childhood friends Konda Anindith Reddy, Shaaz Mehmood and Ishaan Dodhiwala along with Raches Ella and Viswajith Reddy founded Enliva, the first and largest manufacturer of nitrile gloves in India.

“Anindith comes from the Apollo Hospital Group family. During the Covid pandemic, he had experienced firsthand the shortage of medical gloves and how import-dependent India's health sector is for these gloves. At that point, we saw the potential and realised how important it was for Indian glove manufacturing. He discussed it with us, and we finally came up with the idea of Enliva in 2020 and set up our first manufacturing unit at AMTZ in Visakhapatnam,” added Shaaz Mehmood.

With its state-of-the-art 52,000 sq ft. production facility in Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ), Visakhapatnam, Enliva is addressing the gap in India’s nitrile glove manufacturing capacity. Enliva produces 1 million gloves daily—approximately 300 million annually. With an investment of Rs 50 Crore for a first production line and plans to further expand production capacity, Enliva is on track to scale up its output to 3 billion gloves annually by 2030, creating 2,000 new jobs for unskilled and skilled laborers in the process.

Enliva is now focussing not only on meeting India's domestic demand but to establish the country as a global manufacturing hub for gloves, in line with the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047. The company plans to expand across multiple locations, including a greenfield project in North India by 2028.

“Our mission is to make Enliva a global leader in glove manufacturing. We are committed to reaching the goal of Viksit Bharat, and this is only possible through self-reliance and Make in India. The Industry 4.0 is the way forward,” said another Co-Founder of Enliva, Anindith Reddy.

Through large-scale investments, commitment to quality, and a focus on sustainability, Enliva aims to position India as a critical player in the global glove supply chain. This expansion will not only meet domestic needs but will also position India as a key manufacturer for regions such as North Africa, the Middle East, and the UK. A few consignments of gloves are already being exported to Tunisia.

“Enliva wants to break the dominance of Malaysia and China in the global glove market. While these countries have traditionally dominated production, India’s growth potential is immense. The implementation of import duties on finished gloves, subsidies, the implementation of the PLI scheme for local manufacturers, and an enhanced focus on R&D for developing alternatives to imported raw materials will be crucial in India's emergence as a global glove manufacturer, according to another co-founder, Ishaan Dodhiwala.