HLL Lifecare Limited, a Mini Ratna Public Sector Enterprise under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, manufactures 221.7 crore condoms annually, company officials announced on Tuesday.
The announcement underscored the company's status as one of the largest condom manufacturers in the world, N Ajit, director (marketing) of HLL (Hindustan Latex Limited Lifecare), said.
He said HLL has eight factories across the country.
Of these, five factories produce contraceptive products. The factory in Peroorkada in Kerala manufactures 124.6 crore condoms annually, while the one in Kanagala in Karnataka produces 37 crore condoms, 98 lakh oral contraceptive pills, 12.5 crore non-steroidal OCPs, and 1.87 crore emergency contraceptive pills,
The Kakkanad facility in Kerala produces 30 crore male condoms and 2.5 crore female condoms annually, while the Airapuram factory in Kerala manufactures an additional 27.6 crore condoms each year.
"The factory in Aakkulam in Kerala annually produces 55 lakh copper-Ts and 25 lakh tubal rings,” he said in the statement.
According to data released on the last World AIDS Day, HLL has manufactured and distributed more than 5,500 crore condoms over the past 60 years.
Ajit also said Kerala and HLL have played major roles in India's success in population control, and that HLL is at the forefront of introducing several new contraceptive products in the country.
"In the early days, HLL made condoms available across the country under the brand name 'Nirodh'. At that time, 'Nirodh' was the most popular condom brand. Later, various other brands were launched," Ajit said.
"However, HLL rapidly grew to become one of the largest manufacturers of contraceptive products in the world," he added.
He further said that Kerala has always been at the forefront of national family welfare programmes.
He said in the late 1950s, the central government was concerned about the rapid growth of India's population. As part of addressing this concern, the country launched the National Family Welfare Programme.
The family planning campaign with the slogan ‘Small family, happy family' gained much attention during that time. Back then, condoms had to be imported at a high cost.
The government then decided to manufacture condoms within India itself. The main raw material needed for condom manufacturing is rubber or latex. Since rubber was abundantly available in Kerala, it was decided to set up the condom manufacturing unit here.
"In 1966, HLL was established in Thiruvananthapuram under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,” he said in the release.
Beyond contraceptives, HLL's Manesar Factory in Gurgaon, Haryana, specialises in rapid in-vitro diagnostic test kits, the pharma factory in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, produces a range of pharmaceutical products, and the Bhagwanpur factory in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, is a dedicated AYUSH facility for manufacturing and supplying Ayurvedic and Unani medicines, he said in the release.
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