NEW DELHI, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Federal textile minister Smriti Irani said India produced over 150 million N-95 masks and 60 million personal protective equipment (PPE) suits, amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, officials said Saturday.
Irani said India has exported over 20 million PPE suits and 40 million N-95 masks.
"From not having a single manufacturing unit for PPE in March, India so far has produced over 60 million PPE coveralls and more than 150 million N-95 masks. And, exported 20 million PPE coveralls and 40 million N-95 masks to Europe, Africa, Australia, USA and Middle East countries," Irani said while addressing a function on Friday evening.
The minister said India didn't have any company manufacturing the PPE suits, and at present, there are more than 11,000 companies making the protective gears.
"Similarly, from the two companies making the N-95 masks in March, today we have over 200," the minister said.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, India's health ministry has been continuously urging people to take necessary precautions like wearing facemasks, frequent washing of hands and maintaining social distance.
However, health experts say the spike in COVID-19 cases is largely due to negligence at the hands of people by ignoring the use of face masks and recklessly attending the public gatherings without adhering to the norms of social distancing.
On Saturday morning, the federal health ministry said the number of COVID-19 cases in the country has reached 9,826,775 and the death toll has risen to 142,628.
India is in the grip of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and globally it is the second worst-hit country. Enditem
