3M India, which focusses on segments including healthcare, homecare and workplace safety, said it had raised the production of respirators, hand sanitisers and surgical masks in the country in the range of 35-40%.

The country’s demand for such gear far outpaced the supply with the outbreak of COVID-19. To improve the supply of these essential accessories in the country, 3M India has increased the production of these at its manufacturing facility in Ranjangaon, off Pune.

Ramesh Ramadurai, MD, 3M India, said: “We have increased the production of respirators, surgical masks and hand sanitisers in the range of 35% to 40%. Now, we are almost exclusively directing our supplies to a large number of government and private healthcare providers, front-line healthcare workers and nodal agencies in India.”

At full capacity

“The demand has outpaced supply by several times and we are doing our best to make sure that our manufacturing plant is running 24x7 in these critical times. Respirators are close to our heart at this moment of great need.

“The local authorities have supported us by giving us required exemptions for the operation,” he said.

Respirators are the most important protective gear against COVID-19. 3M India makes two different types of respirators, P1 and P2, while it imports N95 masks.

Local authorities have also made a wide variety of 3M products, such as kitchen, home and bathroom chemicals, cleaning tools, materials, scrubs, pads, brushes, swipes and gloves, as part of essentials, as the company is globally known for its focus on healthcare and home care.

The Minnesota-based 3M Company said last week it would boost the U.S. production of its N95 filter respirator masks to 50 million per month by June.

Globally, the company has increased production of masks as demand for respirators exploded with COVID-19.