Gurgaon-based entrepreneur starts manufacturing PPE kits for front line workers

Divya Kaushik | TNN | Updated: Apr 28, 2020, 11:31 IST

After actively engaging in the production of face masks, designers are now coming forward to manufacture PPE (personal protective equipment) kits for front line workers. Gurgaon-based designer and entrepreneur Nidhi Yadav has started manufacturing PPE kits for health workers and sanitation workers at her three factories in Gurgaon. She started the manufacturing process in the first week of April after procuring necessary permissions from authorities and supply of SITRA (The South India Textile Research Association)-certified fabric from exporters based in Himachal Pradesh.

Nidhi Yadav

Nidhi Yadav
“More than taking permission from authorities to run operations, it is difficult to get SITRA-certified fabric for manufacturing of these PPE kits and to ensure its regular supply during the lockdown. As we all have been reading how lack of these PPE kits is a major issue being faced by our health workers, we decided in March that we should try and manufacture these at our units. We have tailors staying in our factories and we had all equipment with us. We are making sure that social distancing norms are practised during production. Each of our factory has a capacity to accommodate 150 workers, but we are working with just 45 in each factory,” says Nidhi, who runs her own ethnic brand label. So far, 27,000 PPE kits have been sent out to private hospitals and also to NGOs for distribution among health and sanitation workers. Nidhi informs that they are aiming at manufacturing 1 lakh units in the coming months. “We can manufacture around 3,000 kits in a day at our facilities. We are aiming to manufacture 1 lakh kits and will continue to manufacture them as per the demand. The kit includes a body suit, plastic face shield and gloves. We are also making face masks with leftover fabric and have already sent out 50,000 face masks for distribution,” she adds.