India’s tech capital, the city of Bengaluru, has emerged as the top producer of the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for the safety of healthcare professionals and paramedics who are at the forefront of the COVID-19 crisis.
Since the novel coronavirus outbreak in the country, the demand and the production has spiked for the Personal Protective Equipment that will safeguard the healthcare workers from contracting the virus while they are treating patients of COVID-19. An official from the government confirmed that Bengaluru has topped the production. In his statement, he said,
“Bengaluru leads other cities in making PPEs or overalls for healthcare warriors across the country, followed by Chennai and Tirupur in Tamil Nadu, Phagwara and Ludhiana in Punjab, Gurugram and Noida in the national capital region.”
As per a Karnataka healthcare official, Bengaluru has already produced over 10 lakh personal protective equipment to meet the demand across the country. The PPEs are used by doctors, nurses, paramedics, and others who are involved in contact tracing and testing in both government and private hospitals.
50 Percent produced in Bengaluru
IN order to streamline the supply chain and to maintain a sufficient supply of the equipment, the central government has been working with the state governments and the industry. The official further said,
“Bengaluru accounts for more than 50 percent of the country’s PPE production. As a specialized protective suit for healthcare warriors, the central health ministry prescribed checks and compliances to ensure they protect the warriors.”
HLL Lifecare has been authorized by the ministry of health and family welfare to procure the overalls for all the government and private hospitals dealing with COVID-19. The PPEs are produced as per the prescription of the World Health Organisation. The overalls are being produced by both the state-run and the private factories across the states like Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, Ahmedabad and Vadodara in Gujarat, Kusumnagar and Bhiwandi in Maharashtra, Dungarpur in Rajasthan and Kolkata in West Bengal.
All the overalls are being tested and certified in four labs across the country – South India Textile Research Association in Coimbatore, Defense Research and Development Establishment at Gwalior, Ordnance Factory Board at Avadi, and Small Arms Factory at Kanpur.
Source: Livemint
