Govt to curb blatant import of spurious surgical gloves, key association welcomes move

Hyderabad: The Indian Rubber Gloves Manufacturers Association have expressed their gratitude to the Govt. of India for their support in promoting quality and made-in-India gloves.

This comes as an effort to curb India from being used as a dumping ground by other countries for sub-standard gloves mainly nitrile gloves.

In an order issued to The Controller of Legal Metrology for All States from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution dated 2nd August 2023, the blatant import and distribution of spurious quality surgical and industrial gloves amongst consumers has been highlighted. A direction has been further given to ensure that the import of gloves are compliant with the provision of the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011.

As per estimates around 664.2 volumes per month in million gloves worth USD 364.3 of bulk unregulated inferior quality gloves have been dumped into the country since the start of the pandemic. These bulk gloves loose gloves are packed and sold in the Indian market without much regulation. The Indian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association in the month of December 2022 made representations to the CDSCO & the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare expressing concerns on usage of these unregulated substandard gloves in the medical field. The Govt of India has swiftly taken action and issued orders to all ports to ensure that the BIS standard are followed and proper testing is being done. This has helped instantly reduce imports by more than 50%.  This step is a welcome step as it has helped not only regulate the quality of gloves being used in the country but also promote Make In India and reduce the import burden and make India Atmanirbhar.

Sunil Patwari – President, Indian Gloves Manufacturers Association said, “In the pandemic even the rejected gloves being imported found use simply because of the unprecedented requirements and necessity of those times. However, it has become a trend now to dump these spurious products / rejected gloves into the hands of unsuspecting consumers from countries like Malaysia, China and Thailand. The Glove manufacturing Industry offers significant opportunities for growth and needs to be encouraged, while the industry needs a lot of support from the government, illegal dumping was one major challenge. The Government’s move will act as a deterrent; however, a lot needs to be done to completely eliminate this evil.”

Anindith Reddy – Managing Director & Founder of, Enliva Gloves, said, “Today India has installed capacity to make high quality indigenous nitrile gloves that suit its domestic requirement and also promote exports. Few large healthcare groups have already stopped importing and have moved towards sourcing from Indian manufacturers. The recent steps being taken by the government are highly appreciated to ensure quality is maintained for the user and further support the development of the glove industry to make India Atmanirbhar.”

The current order has come as a welcome gesture as it will encourage indigenous manufacturing of surgical and industrial nitrile gloves with the prospect of creating jobs, with a possibility to export these gloves and also contribute to the GDP.

The glove market potential in India was about $303 million in 2017 and is projected to increase to $760 million by 2025 at a CAGR of 12.4%. Currently, the association is working closely with the government to reduce the import burden by making recommendations on policy, exemptions, and curbing illegal dumping amongst others.