Centre turns to domestic manufacturers for PPEs, ventilators

Under attack over shortage of personal protection equipment for healthcare workers, the government on Monday said it had ramped up domestic production of coveralls, masks, gloves and medical equipment such as ventilators to meet the rising demand.

In order to meet the requirement of PPEs, and ventilators, factories producing essential items were working round the clock and ordnance factories were trying to produce personal protection equipment for medical personnel.

A statement by the Health Ministry said domestic manufacturer AgVa Healthcare in Noida has been able to develop suitable ventilators and order of 10,000 ventilators has been placed.

In addition, an order for 30,000 ventilators has been placed to Bharat Electronics Limited which is going to collaborate with domestic manufacturers in this endeavor. Indian auto manufacturers are also preparing to manufacture ventilators, the statement said.

Ministry of External Affairs is also approaching suppliers in China for sourcing 10,000 ventilators from them.

For latest updates on coronavirus outbreak, click here

“Supplies are expected to commence by the second week of April,” it said. The statement came days after doctors, as well as opposition parties, flagged the issue of shortage of PPEs for healthcare workers with the government.

The government had admitted to delays in acquiring PPEs due to the imported component and later tweaked rules to allow domestic production without compromising on safety and quality.

Currently, two domestic producers were manufacturing N95 masks and supplying 50,000 masks per day which would go upto one lakh masks per day within the next week, the statement said.

As per the government assessment, there are 3.34 lakh PPE kits available in the country for the use of medical staff and around 60,000 PPE kits have already been dispatched to the hospitals.

The government has also placed orders for 21 lakh PPE coveralls with 11 domestic manufacturers who have cleared quality tests.

“Currently they are supplying 6,000-7,000 coveralls per day and this is expected to go up to 15,000 per day within the next week,” the statement said.