There has been a significant increase in the manufacturing of PPE kits and N-95 masks to meet the surge in demand due to Covid-19, according to Minister for Textiles Smriti Irani.
Speaking at a webinar on Atmanirbhar Bharat organised by the Institute for Competitiveness, Irani said the domestic industry has risen to the demand and significantly increased PPE and N-95 mask manufacturing capacities since the beginning of the pandemic. “We began from zero companies, today there are at 1,100 plus companies for PPE suits, for N-95 masks we had two manufacturers and today there are over 200 plus,” she said.
“Till this day, we have exported over 20 million PPE suits, 40 million N-95 masks, domestically produced over 60 million PPE suits, and till October 2020, 150 million N-95 masks,” she added.