Over 100 units in Coimbatore and Tiruppur districts have registered on the website of MSME Department, Tamil Nadu, as manufacturers of emergency healthcare requirements.
According to data available on the website, 90 units in Tiruppur and 55 in Coimbatore have registered as manufacturers of personal protective equipment (PPE) kits, masks, sanitisers, cots, mattresses, ventilators and COVID testing kits.
Most of the manufacturers in Tiruppur are into masks and PPE kits while those in Coimbatore are into different products.
According to C.R. Anandakrishnan, executive director of KPR Mill, there is a demand for PPE kits from various States. The Mill’s garment unit at Thekkalur has got into production of PPE kits recently. There is a challenge in procuring the fabric that is used to make the kits. But there is a demand for the products. The unit has employed women workers, who were staying inside the premises, to make the kits, he says.
Raja Shanmugham, president of Tiruppur Exporters’ Association, says if the government provides handholding support, more industries in the region can manufacture PPE kits. The country is importing a large quantity of these kits now. The import time and cost can be saved if the local manufacturers are supported.
According to General Manager of District Industries Centre, Coimbatore, P. Karthigaivasan, several industries continue to approach the district administration for permission to operate.
Many of these are into production of healthcare products. Since Friday, the numbers are up, he says.
According to a SITRA official, nearly 100 manufacturers in the country have met the prescribed standards for non-woven fabric used in making the PPEs and coveralls.
While the number is high in the western region, many of the manufacturers here need to get the products certified from the designated laboratories.
