As part of its continued efforts towards progressively augmenting and strengthening the medical infrastructure across the country, various policy decisions have been taken regularly.
The Centre has been leading the graded, pre-emptive, proactive and collaborative response and management of COVID-19, along with the State/UT governments.
There was a global shortage experienced for all kinds of medical equipment including N95 masks, PPE kits, ventilators etc. Most of the products were not being manufactured in the country in the beginning of the pandemic, 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.
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.
Given the strengthened domestic production capacity and having met the local requirements for PPEs, the revised notification of the Director-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) in July 2020 (Notification No. 16/2015-20, dated 29th June 2020) permitted export of PPEs. As a result of this relaxation, in July itself, India exported 23 lakh PPEs to five countries. These include the USA, UK, UAE, Senegal and Slovenia. This has substantially aided India to position itself in the global export market of PPEs.
The “Make in India’ spirit embedded in the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan has resulted in providing resilience and self-sufficiency to the country for various medical equipment, including PPEs. While the Union Government is supplying PPEs, N95 masks, ventilators, etc., to the State/UT Governments, States are also procuring these items directly. Between March to August 2020, they have obtained 1.40 crore indigenous PPEs from their budgetary resources. During the same period, the Centre has distributed 1.28 cr PPEs to States / UTs / Central Institutions, free of cost.
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