PPE makers fail to get orders, Capt urges PM to allow export

In a letter to the PM, Amarinder said the PPE manufacturers rose to the occasion in the wake of the Covid outbreak to make Punjab self-reliant in the production of this critical equipment needed by frontline warriors to fight the pandemic

Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to permit the manufacturers of personal protection equipment (PPE) to export their surplus stock.

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In a letter to the PM, Amarinder said the PPE manufacturers rose to the occasion in the wake of the Covid outbreak to make Punjab self-reliant in the production of this critical equipment needed by frontline warriors to fight the pandemic. “Permitting them to export the PPE body coveralls will also give an impetus to the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan recently launched by the Centre,” he said. A total of 128 firms in Punjab have been given approval for production of PPE.

Citing the surplus capacity, the CM said there was not enough domestic demand of PPE at present. “The manufacturers are finding it difficult to obtain orders. Of the 128 approved manufacturers, only 18 units have received orders from the Centre,” he said. The approved manufacturers have a cumulative current capacity to make 5.21 lakh PPE coveralls daily.