India has become the second largest producer of PPE Kits says Union Minister for Chemical and Fertilizers DV Sadananda Gowda addressing a webinar organised by Invest India Pharma Bureau and Department of pharmaceuticals. 

 

The Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers said, "It is a matter of great pride for me and millions of Indians that from being a net importer, India has become the second largest producer of PPE Kits in the world with daily production capacity surpassing more than 5 lakh per day. 

 

"Similarly in case of ventilators, within a very short span of time, indigenous production capacity has increased to 3 lakh per annum. In addition, India did not face any scarcity of medicines, prices of medicines remained stable throughout. This was achieved due to active cooperation among various departments and agencies of the central government, state governments and private sector," added Gowda. 

 

Stressing on the need of development of indigenous capacity in medical devices Gowda said, "it is very important as it has a crucial role to play in improving accessibility and affordability of healthcare especially with respect to availability of precision devices for screening and diagnosis, advanced surgical equipment needed for treatment, and devices for monitoring of health indicators, among others."

 

The government has decided to support the development of three bulk drug parks and four medical devices parks across the country in coordination with state governments and the private sector. The objective is to make India self reliant in production of 53 critical APIs or Key Starting Materials (KSMs) and in production of medical devices for which India is crucially dependent upon imports. 

 

It is expected that these schemes of the union government for development of bulk drug and medical device park will attract cumulative investment of Rs. 78,000 crore and can generate about 2.5 lakh employment.