HLL Lifecare Limited has stopped taking any further supply of body coveralls from suppliers across India. The Government of India enterprise has cited quality issues in body coveralls it is receiving from the manufacturers.
In a notice sent by mail to coveralls manufacturers, HLL stated – “You are requested to stop all further supplies from 03.06.2020 since we are reviewing the quality of coveralls supplied by all the manufacturers. Hence, please stop all further supplies to our warehouse across India from 03.06.2020 onwards till further communication from our end to restart the supplies.”
HLL has further instructed all its warehouse in-charges to stop receiving coveralls from all the manufacturers from the mentioned date till the further communication.
This notice has come as a shocker to the industry as the country has been riding high on confidence in coverall manufacturing – with all fabric specifications and approvals, seam sealing machines procurement in emergency situation as well as the use of approved seam sealing tapes as regulated by the Government and its agencies – to provide over 4.50 lakh coveralls to the Government and hospitals on a daily basis.
Some industry stalwarts have shown their disagreement over this notice and said that most of the manufacturers are known to comply with very stringent global quality standards in their products and that fits true even in body coverall manufacturing as wel
Interestingly, quality issues are being cited even after the coveralls manufacturers ensured passing ASTM F 1670 or ISO 16603 performance standards and tests. The manufacturers also obtained UCC code from the designated laboratories prior to the start of production of these coveralls which was the main protocol set by HLL.
“This hold has surprised us and has come as a big question mark on our years of R&D, quality norms and efforts that we put in our products,” said a senior industry official to Apparel Resources.
HLL has also put a notice on its website which reads that the organisation is not placing any fresh orders on new suppliers as it has already placed adequate quantity of coveralls to a large number of suppliers in India under the guidelines of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India.
The supply has been put on hold for indefinite time and we will keep a watch on this development to let our readers and the industry know what lies ahead in the days coming.
Bharat Tex Special Report 2026 
