The Centre on Thursday said it has given permission to distilleries and sugar mills to manufacture hand sanitisers in bulk and has already issued licences to 45 distilleries.
To maintain demand and supply of hand sanitisers, states have been asked to remove any bottlenecks in supply of raw materials for making hand sanitizers and to give permissions to the applicants, including distilleries, who intend to manufacture hand sanitisers, it said.
"We had received 100 applications, of which we have given licence to 45 distilleries so far apart from 564 other manufacturers. These companies will manufacture hand sanitisers in bulk," Consumer Affairs Secretary Pawan Agarwal told PTI.
More than 55 distilleries are likely to be given permission in one or two days and many more are being motivated to produce hand sanitizers, he said.
The permission has been given under the Drug Prices Control Order, he added.
The secretary further said, "These manufacturers have also been asked to work in three shifts to maximise their output. What was produced in a month will be manufactured in a day."