Punjab second-largest producer of PPE kits in country

Industry overview

• 150 units in state are producing PPE kits and other such equipment

• 5.5 lakh PPE kits is the daily production capacity

• Rs302-cr orders have been placed by the national health equipment supplier HLL

Nitin Jain

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, January 14

Converting the challenge posed by the pandemic into an opportunity, Punjab has become the country’s second-largest personal protection equipment (PPE) manufacturer with 150 units having daily production capacity of 5.5 lakh PPE kits, which are used within the country and also exported abroad.

PPE kits were in acute short supply in March last year amid their growing demand as the Covid pandemic worsened. These were mostly imported from abroad, especially China, before Punjab took the plunge in making the first line of defence for health workers against Covid.

Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan, who was then heading the industries and commerce as well as investment promotion departments as Additional Chief Secretary, motivated the textile industry to explore manufacturing PPE kits and face masks.

Around 150 units in the state started manufacturing PPE kits, N-95 and N-99 masks and other safety gears, which found potential markets across the country as the ban on the import from China had resulted in acute shortage of these items.

A record number of PPE kit samples from across 59 industries, including 56 in Ludhiana, were approved by the national testing authority SITRA in Coimbatore.

At present, over 140 PPE kits manufacturers in the state have been approved by SITRA and DRDO.

The national supplier for health equipment, HLL, also placed orders worth Rs 302 crore.

Calling it a game changer for the Punjab industry, the Chief Secretary said, “We proactively responded to the need of the hour by encouraging participation of the industry in manufacturing PPE kits, masks and other safety gear by providing conducive environment.”

The ramping up of production in Punjab helped the country to become the second-largest producer of PPE kits in the world with 1,100 manufacturers, Rs 7,000-crore investment and daily production of 4.5 lakh unit.