Alok Industries ishelping produce COVID-19 protective gears at one-third the cost of those imported from China.The company has redeployed Alok Industries’ manufacturing facilities in Silvassa, Gujarat for exclusively manufacturing personal protective equipment (PPE) to safeguard doctors, nurses, medical staff and other frontline workers engaged in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, sources said.
Capacity has been scaled up to produce more than 1 lakh PPE kits per day and cost has been slashed to nearly Rs 650 per unit from the about Rs 2,000 apiece imported price, they said. The facility can also be used for exporting PPE in future, they added Other PPE kit manufacturers include JCT Phagwara, Gokaldas Exports, and Aditya Birla. India was importing most of its PPE requirement till manufacturing started within the country in the aftermath of the coronavirus crisis.
High grade polypropylene is the raw material used to produce the equipment, lending it more opacity while keeping it light weight. A PPE suit consists of coveralls, gloves, shoe covers, three-ply or N95 face masks, head gear and face shield. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the protective equipment consists of garments placed to protect the health care workers or any other persons. These usually consist of standard items — gloves, mask and gown.