Nitin Gadkari asks Commerce Ministry to allow exports of PPE kits

New Delhi, Jun 12 (KNN) Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has asked the Commerce Ministry to allow exports of personal protective equipment (PPE) kits, as the country has ramped up its capacity significantly over the last two months.

“We have tremendous capacity now. We don’t need to import PPE kits from China but we can now start exporting it," he said, speaking at the launch a report prepared by National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) and Council on Energy Environment and Water (CEEW)-- Jobs, Growth and Sustainability: a new social contract for India’s recovery.

Similarly, domestic manufacturers have also received orders to export sanitizers, he added.

Gadkari also said that the government will also prepare a list of items imported and exported in the last three year as the first priority is to find a way out for import substitution.

PPE kits witnessed a tremendous rise in demand due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

“In March we imported PPE kits from China and now more than five lakh PPE kits are being manufactured by MSMEs each day,'' said the MSME minister.

The Minister further said that creating employment opportunities in rural, agricultural and backward areas is the need of the hour at a time when the economy is struggling to return to normalcy.

“We need to innovate, do research and create more jobs in handlooms, tribal areas and that is the need of the hour," Gadkari said.

Gadkari said that the government has taken a slew of measures in the last few weeks to support MSMEs, including collateral-free, automatic loans for the sector of up to Rs 3 trillion backed by government guarantee, and updated definition of MSMEs, besides expediting payment of pending dues.