PPE story was defining moment for me: Smriti Irani

Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani has said that the PPE story in the recent months of lockdown was one of the defining moments of her life.

Thanking warmly the industry as well as the officials of the Ministry of Textile (MoT) who worked endlessly despite all the risks to their lives in this pandemic, she said that I am extremely proud to have served you as a minister.

Addressing ‘A Movement Towards Atmanirbhar Bharat – Competitiveness and Manufacturing of PPEs’, an event organised by Institute of Competitiveness, the Minister said that she has hardly seen such strong collective efforts in MoT regarding PPE manufacturing.

“MoT top officials calling the industry leaders from early morning till late night, perfect coordination between various ministries and such endless efforts developed strong trust factor between Government and industry. And now there is need to carry the same momentum for technical textile and MMF segment,” she said.

It is pertinent to mention that from almost nil production of PPE before the pandemic, India has exported around over 20 million PPE suits and 40 million N-95 masks so far, while for the domestic market almost 60 million PPE suits and 150 million N-95 masks have been produced so far.

“We didn’t dilute international standards of PPEs and saved lives of our frontline workers and we are proud of this. The Prime Minister backs us in this regard and our industry also has proved itself,” she said and further added Indian garment manufacturing industry also performed well on the front of turnaround time and cost competitiveness also.

Calling the PPE manufacturing journey as a revolution, the Minister said that it is a matter of pride that the industry didn’t ask for any subsidy regarding PPE production and through the production of PPE, industry also ensured 5 lakh sustainable direct jobs.

“Industry made history and my belief is that history will continue to be made,” she said.