The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has put an excessive strain on healthcare systems worldwide, causing a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE). PPE is a precious commodity for health personnel to protect them against infections. Therefore, countries started to manufacture the PPEs to cope with the gap between demand & Supply.
Similarly, India started to produce PPEs, and now it has become the 2nd largest manufacturer of PPEs in the World. “Kasturi Cotton India” are among the highlights in the Year-End Review 2020 released by the ministry of textiles, Government of India after approval from the National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM) with a total outlay of ₹1,480 crores.
The year 2020 also saw anti-dumping duty on purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and acrylic fibre. To provide a broader market for handloom weavers/artisans/producers, they were on-boarded Government e Market place (GeM).
The ministry said, in its year-end review, “With the development of a new industry valuing ₹7,000 crores with 1100 PPE manufacturers producing a peak of 4.5 lakh units per day, India becomes the second largest PPE manufacturer in the world. The textile industry occupies an important position in our country. Indian textile sector is the sixth-largest exporter of textiles and apparel in the world. Its share in mercantile exports is 12 percent and is the second-largest employment generator after agriculture.”
