COVID-19: OFB to set up PPE testing facility in Ambernath

In order to fight against the deadly coronavirus pandemic, the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) is planning to set up two more facilities for testing personal protective equipment (PPE) -- one at Ishapore near Kolkata and the other at Ambernath, on the outskirts of Mumbai, said an official on Thursday.

The two new facilities will give an impetus to indigenous manufacturing of the coveralls, said the official.

OFB has set up five facilities earlier this month in other parts of the country.

The OFB, within the span of a fortnight, had conceptualised, designed and produced a machine to administer the test on PPEs and obtained accreditation from the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), said spokesperson Uddipon Mukherjee.

"Two more facilities have been planned - one at Ordnance Factory Ambernath near Mumbai and the other at Ishapore near Kolkata so as to provide a pan-India network for testing the fabric used for manufacturing of coveralls," Mukherjee said.