(a) whether the Government has removed the ban on exports for diagnostic kits, PPEs, sanitizers, Hydroxychloroquine and other medical items;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether after the ban on exports of said items, the indigenous production of the above items has increased drastically; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
THE MINISTER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)
(a) and (b): The prohibition on export of various medical items such as PPE Coveralls, 2/3 Ply masks, Face Shields, Sanitizers (except when exported in containers with dispenser pumps), Hydroxychloroquine API and its formulations, 13 other Pharmaceutical APIs and its formulations and Ventilators has been removed. While export of Diagnostic Kits, N-95/FFP2 masks is currently restricted, their export is allowed subject to a monthly quota.
(c) & (d): The prohibition on export of medical items was imposed to ensure domestic availability of these items to fight COVID-19. These have been relaxed based on an assessment, from time to time, of the domestic requirement, production capacity and surplus available for export.
Prior to 20th March, 2020, the requirement for PPE Coveralls was largely met through imports as there was very limited domestic production suitable for COVID-19 requirements. The export ban on PPE Coveralls was removed when the domestic production of PPE Coveralls subsequently reached 1.5 crore units per month. The availability of Alcohol based Hand Sanitizers was 10 lakh litres per annum. This manufacturing capacity subsequently increased to 38 Lakh litres per day, enabling the prohibition on the export of Alcohol based hand sanitizers (except when exported in containers with dispenser pumps) to be removed.
Ventilators production in country, which was negligible prior to January 2020, was ramped up to enable export of domestically manufactured ventilators today.
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