In pursuit of a safe pair of gloves: Local manufacturers urge govt to impose duty on Malaysian and Thai imports

Pre-war local companies manufactured at about ₹140 to ₹150 for a box of 100 gloves, he said, while the imported bulk gloves came at about ₹80 rupees, for a box of 100 gloves

Local glove makers dealing with, what they say, is an unequal marketplace, hope for a “revival” of their segment, following the Directorate General of Trade Remedies’ recommendation to impose anti-dumping duty on medical examination rubber gloves imported from Malaysia and Thailand.

Calling on the Centre to act swiftly on the DGTR’s recommendations, industry insiders cautioned, the intervening time could see a stockpiling of these gloves, that sometimes come in bulk, even in gunny-bags.

The industry has received support from the Kerala government, who took their concerns up with the Centre. Domestic glove manufacturers face a “structural cost disadvantage” that undermines domestic value addition: “key raw materials such as natural rubber latex ... carry heavy basic customs duties (85 per cent), whereas finished medical gloves enter India at zero or concessional duty rates under regional trade agreements.,” a recent letter from the State to the Centre, pointed out.

Imported Issues

The DGTR’s recommendation comes after a year-long investigation into the segment, reviewing local and imported products.

Shaaz Mehmood, Director, Wadi Surgicals – one of the companies that filed an application with the designated authority on behalf of the domestic industry, seeking an investigation - told businessline, the Centre’s move will make it a level playing field for the industry. “Prior to COVID... these examination gloves were not made in India. ... India was importing them.” Post Covid, in an effort to become self-reliant, a handful of companies invested to ramp-up capacities,he said. “We put up these large investments ...on these big factories, only to find that we were battling market prices lower than the cost of the raw material...,” he said.

The industry further found that “Malaysia and Thailand were dumping gloves into India, which are lower than the prices they sell in their market, ...in their international market. And these gloves typically come in gunny bags....not even properly packed,” he alleged. Pre-war local companies manufactured at about ₹140 to ₹150 for a box of 100 gloves, he said, while the imported bulk gloves came at about ₹80 rupees, for a box of 100 gloves.

He urged the Centre to notify the DGTR’s recommendation, cautioning against stockpiling in the intervening period. He also stressed the need for a regulatory framework to ensure the quality of gloves - as a bulk of them are used in healthcare, and in sterile hospital environments, low quality products could cause contamination.

“Protectionist”

Man Mohan Singh Gulati, with the Indian Rubber Gloves Manufacturers Association, added, that in five years of the proposed anti-dumping duty, the industry would up its capacity for local and global markets. Responding to criticism that the duties were “protectionist”, he said, that the Centre had conducted its own investigation and found that the domestic industry was being hurt – and hence the recommendation for anti-dumping duties.

Rajiv Nath, with the Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMed) added, that the Centre needed to make the segment more globally competitive by reducing input costs, besides developing dedicated MedTech / industrial clusters equipped with common facilities including access to water, effluent treatment, for example, especially in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Published on November 10, 2026