From PPE kits to sanitisers to ventilators, COVID-19 has sparked off an indigenous cottage industry boom

Representative image | The West Bengal government has imposed lockdown-like curbs to reduce the pace of COVID-19 transmission

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s clarion call for `aatmanirbharta’ or self-reliance has more takers in India than previously imagined.

The rampaging pandemic in the country, which is slowly pushing India higher on the list of most-affected nations, has, in turn, spawned a gigantic parallel cottage industry manufacturing a variety of anti-COVID gear.

There are currently more than 1,000 companies on the government list that are producing personal protective equipment or PPE kits. The list of private producers, those that are not recognised by the government, are a handful as well, but their details are sketchy.

In addition to the government list, scores of other firms, of varying shapes and sizes, are manufacturing gloves, masks, ventilators, swabs, sanitisers and RNA extraction kits, among other gear, since coronavirus was declared a pandemic in mid-March this year.

Jumping on the anti-corona bandwagon with a flourish, not many of the firms listed here are health or wellness companies. True to the spirit of Swadeshi and of quick thinking and innovation, they include footwear firms, hosiery manufactures, textile mills, exporters, boutique shop owners, dealers in apparels, ordnance clothing, polythene bag makers - you name it and they are there.

First the PPEs, considered sacrosanct for frontline anti-COVID warriors, including health workers, municipal volunteers, accredited social health activists (ASHA) and hospital and sanitation staff, who interact closely with potential and positive virus patients.

To meet the rapid and non-stop increase in coronavirus positive cases, the government has pulled out all stops. Companies have been awarded contracts, accorded through the single window with a speed that is astonishing for government orders, with the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) PSUs and departments acting as the nodal agencies. To be sure, India could do with that speed now.

A typical order, provisioned by the Ordnance Factory Board’s Heavy Vehicle Factory in Avadi, Tamil Nadu, while issuing a Unique Certificate Code for PPE fabric, reads thus: “Against their Fabric for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) test sample with sample No -

FABRIC NON-WOVEN 40 GSM submitted to us on 18-May-2020 and tested on 21-May-2020, the sample has passed the Synthetic Blood Penetration Test conducted as per and confirms to the technical requirement of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare guideline dated-02-03-2020. The test result is annexed to this certificate.”

For good measure, it adds: “This certificate is based on the sample submitted by the applicant. No other test/verification has been conducted by the testing agency, other than results in the test report. The procurement agency is advised to conduct prior, due diligence as per the procurement policy, including periodical sample tests during the course of supply of the materials.” A test report is attached to this document.

About 800 companies have been awarded contracts to manufacture PPEs by various MOD departments. These include the Heavy Vehicle Factory, Avadi, Tamil Nadu; Metal and Steel Factory; Ordnance Factory, Ambarnath; Ordnance Factory, Kanpur; the Ordnance Factory Muradnagar that is overseeing the single largest number of companies and Small Arms Factory, Kanpur.

In addition to this list, are another 358 firms, which are manufacturing PPE Body Coveralls under the supervision of the Defence and Research Development Organisation (DRDO). Coveralls are a PPE item designed to protect the body and other clothing against dirt or outside contaminants. They are one piece and loose fitting for ease of movement, with sleeves, full leggings and often a hood to cover the head.

Two lakh PPE kits, coveralls produced daily

Today there are 2 lakh PPE kits and coveralls being churned out daily by this new assembly line production, as per the specifications of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. In addition, roughly the same number is being produced daily by other manufacturers and suppliers to state governments, autonomous institutes and private healthcare. These PPEs include all varieties – from high quality to sub-standard and shoddy, supplied in accordance with the budget.

Testing the quality of material at different stages of processing, from fibre to fabric and evaluation of processing performance by the application of physical, chemical and processing tests have been assigned to the South India Textile Research Association or SITRA for all important quality characteristics.

“PPE production capacity has increased so much that it has become a Rs 7,000-crore industry in India, the biggest after China," PD Vaghela, Union Secretary in the Department of Pharmaceuticals and chairman of one of the 11 empowered groups constituted for planning and ensuring implementation of response to the disease outbreak, told a media conference.

But if PPEs constitute a safeguard for frontline COVID warriors, the public need for other survival paraphernalia has triggered another segment in this cottage industry, which is doing booming business. The massive demand for masks, gloves, sanitisers and ventilators is virtually never-ending. Not surprisingly, the numbers of those getting into business are multiplying.

Consider the following -- at the last count:

** According to the Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AIMED), before the virus spread, there were 20 companies making gloves; today there are 30.

** There were eight ventilator companies; now there are 14, with increased demand.

** From 35 sanitiser companies in February, the number has reached 47 and could soon be touching the 50 mark. From 19.46 million litres of sanitiser liquid per annum, these companies are now producing 41.48 million litres per annum, according to AIMED data.

** There were no specialist goggles manufactures; now there are 14. From zero production at the start of the year, the goggles count has zoomed up to 11.142 million pieces per annum.

** There were 21 mask producers till February, catering mostly to the anti-pollution users; the number has now jumped to 43. From 300 million pieces per annum, the number has gone up to 1.20 billion pieces per annum.

** There are three swabs manufacturers presently as compared to none a few months ago. From no production, the number is now pegged at 74 million pieces per annum.

In other niche areas of corona medicare like diagnostic kits, rapid diagnostic kits and RNA extraction kits, the numbers of companies have gone up from 0 to 5, 2 and 8 respectively – as has the production. While there were no diagnostic kits at the beginning of the year, companies are now producing 111.2 million pieces per month. Likewise, for RNA extraction kits; non-existent at the beginning of 2020, 10.79 million pieces are being produced every month. In the case of COVID-19 rapid diagnostic kits, 27 million pieces per annum are on the anvil.

By no chance is this list of anti-COVID gear a final one either. According to Rajiv Nath, Coordinator of the COVID PPE Support Group, which is working with the Department of Pharmaceuticals, “this list is a dynamic one, which changes every two weeks.” One thing is for certain. Most of these goods were imported not too long ago. Now they are wholly indigenous.

Ranjit Bhushan is an independent journalist and former Nehru Fellow at Jamia Millia University. In a career spanning more than three decades, he has worked with Outlook, The Times of India, The Indian Express, the Press Trust of India, Associated Press, Financial Chronicle, and DNA.