<p class="p1">When the spread of coronavirus <span class="s1">pandemic </span>began across the world, India was importing most of its PPE kits and ventilators. Five months on the road, India turned the crisis into an opportunity by indigenously manufacturing 12.8 million PPE kits, 30 million N95 masks, and over 22,500 ventilators.</p>
<p class="p1">The Ministry of Health and Family Affairs (MoHFW) said in a statement<span class="s1"> today :</span> "Since 11th March 2020, the Union Government has distributed more than 3.04 crore N95 masks and more than 1.28 crore PPE kits to states, Union Territory and  Central institutions, free of cost. Also, more than 10.83 crore hydroxychloroquine tablets have been distributed to them.</p>
<p class="p1">So far, under Make in India over 22,533 ventilators have been successfully delivered.</p>
<p class="p1">"Most of the products supplied by the government were not being manufactured in the country in the beginning. The rising global demand due to the pandemic resulted in their scarce availability in the foreign markets," said the press release.</p>
<p class="p1">As a result, the resolve for 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' and 'Make in India' has been strengthened and most of the supplies made by the Union Government are domestically manufactured.</p>
<p class="p1">The Health Ministry said its role in the containing Covid-19 "has been in strengthening health infrastructure to fight the pandemic and its effective management."</p>
<p class="p1">Along with augmenting Covid-19 facilities, the Union Government has been providing medical supplies free of cost to the State/UT governments to supplement their efforts. Most of the products supplied by the Government of India were not being manufactured in the country in the beginning. The rising global demand due to the pandemic resulted in their scarce availability in the foreign markets.</p>
<p class="p1">With the combined efforts of MoHFW, Textiles and Pharmaceuticals Ministry, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and others, the domestic industry has been encouraged and facilitated to manufacture and supply essential medical equipment like PPEs, N95 masks, ventilators etc., during this period.</p>.