India produces one lakh PPEs per day, almost 50% production in Bengaluru: Govt

New Delhi: The government on Sunday said that the production capacity of personal protective equipment (PPE) coveralls required by medical personnel treating Covid-19 cases in the country has been ramped up to more than 1 lakh per day with nearly half the production happening in Bengaluru. The cumulative production till date is approximately one million coverall units, textiles ministry said in a statement.

“Bengaluru has become a major hub for PPE coverall production in the country to combat Covid-19 cases. Nearly 50% of the coverall production in the country is from Bengaluru,” the ministry said.

Since body coveralls or PPE is a specialized protective suit meant for high level of protection to the health professionals, the ministry said it has “stringent technical requirements” as prescribed by health ministry.

HLL Lifecare Limited is the designated single-window procurement agency for the hospitals and healthcare organisations under the health & family welfare ministry.

Other than Bengaluru, PPE Coveralls are also being manufactured by approved production units in Tirupur, Chennai and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, Ahmedabad and Vadodara in Gujarat, Phagwara and Ludhiana in Punjab, Kusumnagar and Bhiwandi in Maharashtra, Dungarpur in Rajasthan, Kolkata, Delhi, Noida, Gurugram and few other places.

“The cumulative production till date is approximately one million coverall units,” it said.

As of now, there are four laboratories in the country which have the Synthetic Blood Penetration Resistance Test facilities as well as necessary approvals for conducting tests and certification for PPE required for Covid-19. These are South India Textiles Research Association (SITRA), Coimbatore, Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE), Gwalior, and two laboratories under Ordnance Factory Board – Heavy Vehicles Factory, Avadi and Small Arms Factory, Kanpur.

For each such test conducted in respect of a fabric and the PPE Coverall garment, for which prototype samples are sent by the respective manufacturers, a Unique Certification Code (UCC-COVID19) is generated. This code has records of the type of fabric, type of garment, its date of testing, testing standard and other relevant particulars.

“With a view to further streamline the process of testing and to ensure that the quality of the PPE Coveralls is maintained, the testing laboratory will now accept the sample for testing only on submission of an affidavit in the prescribed format by the organization intending to get their PPE Coverall sample tested in the approved laboratories,” the ministry added.

The UCC issued to each passed sample is published on the official website of DRDO, OFB and SITRA for verification by any user of the product.