KOCHI: With Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) such as face masks and gloves becoming a part of daily-use essentials, investors and entrepreneurs alike have identified the huge potential to be tapped in the markets for medical disposables. Sensing an opportunity, many businesses are shifting their focus to manufacturing and selling a range of PPE, targeting national as well as export markets.
A variety of medical disposable products, which include masks, gloves, coveralls, aprons, face shields, head covers and shoe covers, have shown renewed potential for high market demand in recent times. With the Covid-19 pandemic affecting the entire globe, countries around the world are engaged in efforts to overcome the sudden shortage of PPE as millions began to fall ill.
“The shortage of PPE has led to an increase in the prices of the products in the international market. Those involved in the production of medical disposable products have scaled up output. States should encourage the manufacture of medical disposable products as an industry. Kerala, especially, can make the best of favourable factors like the availability of high-quality latex, return of its Gulf expats (including potential investors, experts in the field and skilled labour) and rising local demand, to venture into manufacturing medical disposables,” said Saj Sulaiman, chairman and managing director, Medtra Innovative Technologies, Kochi.
In the wake of the pandemic, small-scale manufacture of masks and sanitisers has emerged as a successful venture for many. “I have sold many eco-friendly products, including those made of cassava and corn. Venturing into the sale of sanitisers and face-masks has been more profitable, compared to these,” said Ravi Krishnan, founder of Biomart which makes eco-friendly products.
However, a few businessmen are also of the view that for a beginner, setting up facilities for manufacturing medical disposables would be a huge task.
“The only industry that is booming today is the medical industry. In our country, it is difficult to make a profit by reducing costs, as manufacturing and packaging always involve a high cost. For the next couple of months, demand for sanitisers and masks will be high, and those planning to manufacture these items will reap profits. Manufacture of surgical gloves, however, involves abiding by a lot of stringent guidelines and for a beginner in the sector, it would be a tough task with all the competition,” said Subin Jose, manager (Marketing) of the gloves division of St Mary’s Rubber at Kanjirapally.