60 days, 56-fold growth: India now second largest PPE manufacturer

According to Invest India, the government company, India has become the second largest maker of PPE kits, considered key to fight Covid-19. It has said India achieved this feat in two months.

On March 1, just before the coronavirus outbreak happened in the country, India had no factory that produced Personal Protective Equipment or PPE. By May 18, India was producing 4.5 lakh PPEs per day, says a paper by Invest India, a central government company set up for investment facilitation.

Taking March 30 as a reference point when India produced 8,000 PPE every day, the Invest India paper -- Personal Protective Equipment in India: A Rs 7,000 crore industry in the making -- says the sector has seen a growth of over 56-fold in just 60 days.

A PPE kit includes masks (surgical and N-95), gloves (surgical and examination), coveralls and gowns, head cover, goggles, face-shields and shoe cover.

Today, more than 600 companies in India are certified to produce PPEs, whose global market worth is expected to be over $92.5 billion by 2025, up from $52.7 billion in 2019.

China is the current world leader in both the manufacture and export of PPEs. The US and the Asia Pacific are the biggest markets that Indian manufacturers are eyeing. These two regions have a combined market share of 61 per cent (33 per cent + 28 per cent) of PPEs. Europe has an additional share of 22 per cent.

Currently, most PPE products are banned for export from India as these are needed for frontline health workers. But in a recent webinar, the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) batted for lifting of the ban on export once the local manufacturers are able to meet the Indian demand.

India has an inventory of 15.96 lakh PPE kits and another 2.22 crore kits are being manufactured against firm orders by the industry.

Bengaluru has emerged as the hub of PPE manufacturing in India with about 50 per cent share. Other centres are Tiruppur, Coimbatore, Chennai (in Tamil Nadu), Ahmedabad, Vadodara (in Gujarat), Ludhiana (in Punjab), Bhiwandi (Maharashtra), Kolkata (West Bengal), Noida (Uttar Pradesh and Gurgaon (Haryana).

According to the Invest India paper, the country is looking to tap the growing market of PPEs. After the SARS epidemic in 2002-2004, Singapore had stockpiled enough disposable PPE and benefitted as a result during this COVID-19 crisis.

This is the current sentiment among all governments across the world. Invest India paper too advises all concerned agencies to assess what should be their stockpile and once this is met, Indian manufacturers should tap the global market in post-Covid-19 world.