Surgical glove makers urged to step up quality for exports

Aimed at improving the quality of Indian surgical gloves to gain competitiveness in the global market, the Rubber Board along with Bureau of Indian Standards conducted a training programme for manufacturers.

Inaugurating the training programme, Jessy MD, Director, Rubber Research Institute of India, stressed the need for pricing the products competitively without compromising on quality to be able to compete globally. The global market is dominated by industries from Thailand and Malaysia. Marketing of high-quality products at attractive prices can bring Indian manufacturers to the forefront of the international glove market, she said.

The training aims to equip domestic manufacturers to tap the huge potential in the surgical glove manufacturing sector and help fetch better latex prices for growers, she added.

A Mohammed Ismail, Senior Director and Head of Bureau of Indian Standards, Kerala branch, said the capsule courses are organised at regular intervals and are product-specific to equip quality control personnel of industries with the latest requirements of Indian Standards. The participants will be given hands-on practical sessions in testing of raw material — ammonia-preserved concentrated natural rubber latex, and disposable surgical rubber gloves.

On the sidelines of the function, Siby Varghese, Joint Director, Rubber Board, told BusinessLine that India is the second largest importer of surgical gloves after the US and there is a need to increase the number of local manufacturing facilities, from the existing 20-odd, with the help of government subsidy.

Malaysia is the largest producer of surgical gloves, which uses up more than 70 per cent of its natural rubber production, he said.

Representatives from surgical glove manufacturing companies in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh participated in the training programme.