As many as 1,100 indigenous manufacturers of PPE kits have been developed by the government till date and most of them are from the MSME sector, Parliament was informed on Friday.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Textiles Minister Smriti Irani said the capacity and production of PPE coveralls for Covid-19 touched a peak of 5 lakh per day in mid-May 2020.
"From zero manufacturers in March 2020, 1,100 indigenous manufacturers of PPE kits have been developed by the government till date, most of them being from the MSME (micro, small and medium enterprise) sector," she said.
As on September 13, she said a total of 1.42 crore PPE kits have been supplied to HLL Lifecare Ltd, the procurement arm of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, for the use of health professionals in government hospitals.
Similarly, domestic manufacturers of N-95 masks were encouraged during the lockdown period and as a result, as on September 13, a total of 2.46 crore N-95 masks have been supplied to HLL Lifecare Ltd.
In a separate reply, she said that from July 28 to August 24, 2020, the exports of PPE coveralls were allowed under quantity restriction limited to 50 lakh per month.
"During this period, the export authorisations were given for the US, the UK, the United Arab Emirates, Senegal and Slovenia," she added.
Export authorisations to the US was 6 lakh, the UK (4 lakh), United Arab Emirates (3 lakh), Senegal (4,89,500) and Slovenia (5 lakh).
Replying to another question, she said as per the Cotton Crop report dated September 10 of Directorate of Cotton Development, cotton cultivation for the ensuing cotton season 2020-21 is expected to increase by around 3 per cent to around 130 lakh hectares. It had stood at 126 lakh hectares during cotton season 2019-20.
"Thus, there is no adverse impact on cotton cultivation due to Covid-19," she said.