Orders stop, makers of PPE suits get hot under the collar

Ludhiana: In a big jolt to hundreds of personal protective equipment (PPE) suit manufacturers of the city, government organisation HLL Lifecare Limited, which is the largest buyer of the gear in India, has stopped placing new orders.
This has distressed manufacturers dealing with the organisation, which has already placed orders worth more than Rs 250 crore with 18 manufacturers from Punjab, of which 16 are from Ludhiana.
City businessmen are now demanding that the Centre lift the ban on the export of PPE suits otherwise they will have to suffer losses worth crores of rupees in view of huge stocks lying unsold. Sources said HLL has stopped the purchase because there was a big stock of PPE suits, with authorities purchasing them from about 95 vendors across India.
Harish Dua, president of Knitwear and Apparel Exporters’ Organisation and a PPE suit manufacturer, said, “This is a huge setback to Punjab’s industry, especially to over 100 approved manufacturers of PPE in Ludhiana. On coming to know that HLL was placing huge orders, more businessmen came forward and started manufacturing PPE suits after getting approval from the Central government laboratories, like Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and South India Textile Research Association (SITRA). But now the organisation has backtracked and refused to place more orders, without citing any reason. This has left hundreds of manufacturers in the lurch. The Centre should take note and at least allow us to export PPE suits so that we can minimise our losses.”
Narinder Mittal, general secretary of Ludhiana Business Forum and a PPE suit manufacturer, said, “This development has come at a worse time as already 100 manufacturers from Ludhiana have been approved by the Central laboratories to manufacture and supply PPE suits. Equal number have sent their samples for testing and many of them are likely to get approval too. On the other hand, there are huge reserve stocks lying with all the hospitals and government departments so there is no scope for local manufacturers anymore here. The rates have crashed by almost 50%. The Centre had banned export of PPE suits, fearing there will be a shortage in India. But now the situation has changed, so the Central government must lift the ban else majority of the manufacturers will have to shut down their operations.”
Notice on website
In a notice on its website, HLL Lifecare Limited says, “Emergency procurement of Covid-19 medical supplies: It may be noted that we have already placed purchase orders for PPE Coveralls (for the quantities as mandated by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India) on a large number of suppliers. At present, we are not placing any fresh orders on new suppliers. If your coverall has already passed the mandated Synthetic Blood Penetration test, you should consider registering youcompany on the Govt. of India’s GEM portal and explore supply options to various States/UT’s/Central institutions and even private hospitals as per requirements. (sic)”