Turning the COVID-19 pandemic into an opportunity to fulfill the spirit of 'Atmrbhar Bharat Abhiyaan', the Centre on Friday said that India has exported 23 lakh Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to five countries in one month.
It is to mention that Director-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) in July 2020 permitted export of PPEs. As a result of this relaxation, in the month of July itself, India exported 23 lakh PPEs to five countries. These include USA, UK, UAE, Senegal and Slovenia.
At the start of the pandemic, there was a global shortage experienced for all kinds of medical equipment including N95 masks, PPE kits and ventilators.
"Most of the products were not being manufactured in the country in the beginning as many of the necessary components were to be procured from other countries. The rising global demand due to the pandemic resulted in their scarce availability in the foreign markets," the Centre said in an official release.
"Turning the pandemic into an opportunity to develop its domestic market for the production of medical equipment, with the combined efforts of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Textiles, Ministry of Pharmaceuticals, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Defence Research and Development Orgsation (DRDO) and others, India has hugely ramped up its own manufacturing capacity," it said.
While the Centre is supplying PPEs, N95 masks, ventilators, to the State/UT Governments, States are also procuring these items directly.
"Between March to August 2020, they have procured 1.40 crore indigenous PPEs from their own budgetary resources. During the same period, the Centre has distributed 1.28 cr PPEs to States/UTs/Central Institutions, free of cost," the Centre said.
( With inputs from ANI )