India has exported 23 lakh personal protection equipment (PPE) to countries like Senegal, Slovenia, UAE, the UK and the US in last one month as the country has been able to achieve self-sufficiency in making these kits along with other essential Covid-fighting medical products such as N95 masks and ventilators, an official release said here on Friday.

Last month, the Director-General of Foreign Trade through a notification allowed exports of PPE kits.

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 release said

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 & Family Welfare, Ministry of Textiles, Ministry of Pharmaceuticals, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and others, India has hugely ramped up its manufacturing capacity.

Domestic demand

Currently, India is meeting its requirement for these products through indigenous production. Between March and August, the Centre has distributed 1.28 crore PPE kits to the States and Union Territories free of cost, while the States directly procured an additional 1.4 crore PPE kits using their budgetary resources.

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