BENGALURU: In the wake of an acute crisis of hand sanitisers, the Karnataka Brewers & Distillers Association (KBDA) has approached the government, seeking permission to make alcohol content hand sanitisers, which can be used for containing the spread of the new coronavirus, KBDA president Arun Kumar Parasa told CE.
“Hand sanitisers are not available in the market, and we have written to the excise commissioner and additional chief secretary, finance, to grant us permission to manufacture hand sanitisers to help mitigate the health emergency. We are licensed to manufacture only potable spirits. Manufacture of hand sanitisers requires a different process. We need to denature Rectified Spirit (RS) and for that we need a government order. Making hand sanitisers is not part of our licensing condition,” said Parasa.So far, the KBDA has not heard from the government, he added. According to sources, the government is awaiting a requisition for hand sanitisers from the department of health and family welfare.There are 38 distilleries in Karnataka, and most of them are located in tier-2 or tier-3 cities.
“Almost all of them have volunteered to make hand sanitisers, and KBDA would like to supply them to the public free of cost, as part of our corporate social responsibility,” said Parasa.
Distilleries are licensed for the production of high-grade potable alcohol, ethanol and RS. Manufacturers of disinfecting solutions, including hand sanitisers, source the RS, the basic ingredient of these solutions, from distilleries.
The World Health Organisation has stressed upon the use of alcohol-based hand rubs and sanitisers as one of the preventive measures of the new coronavirus.
In France and the UK, some leading spirit makers and distillers are joining hands to boost the production of hand sanitisers. Louis Vuitton owner LVMH has also offered to start making hand sanitiser to protect people against the coronavirus outbreak.