Ministry of Textiles, India has approved a testing lab for PPE coveralls in Ludhiana (Punjab) which will be set up soon. The lab will conduct critical blood penetration test along with other required tests for PPE coveralls.
The lab will be set up in the textile committee office of Ludhiana for which MoT, India has supplied machinery to the committee in order to conduct tests like blood penetration and bursting strength.
This lab has come as a huge relief for PPE manufacturers and the manufacturers of technical textiles as, until now, they have sent product samples to far off places (such as Coimbatore) for testing.
Sibin C., Director (Industries and Commerce), Punjab commented, “Previously all PPE kits were imported from China but COVID-19 has made the State Government push Ludhiana textile manufacturers to develop PPE kits in-house. The major issue remains the testing of PPE kits as main testing labs such as SITRA and DRDE are located in different places of India.”
It’s worth mentioning here that around 141 manufacturers have already got their products approved with the help of Centre and State Governments, but many new as well as established units still wait for approval.
Sibin further informed that the audit and calibration of supplied machinery will be conducted by NABL – the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories – next week (NABL).
Supporting and welcoming the step, Harish Dua, Executive Council Member, AEPC, said “The testing lab set up in Ludhiana will be the game changer for the state’s technical textile manufacturers.”
