Joint Secretary in the Union Health Ministry Luv Agrawal said he was not aware of the development. (PTI)

On Tuesday, social media was abuzz with news of India exporting medical protective equipment while the country was facing a shortage of it to combat the coronavirus pandemic. This came to light after UNDP Serbia tweeted that the flight carrying 90 tonnes of material protective equipment purchased by the Serbian government had landed in Belgrade.

In a tweet, the organisation said, "The 2nd cargo Boeing 747 with 90t of medical protective equipment landed from India to Belgrade today. The transportation of valuable supplies purchased by @SerbianGov has been fully funded by the #EU while @UNDPSerbia organized the flight & ensured the fastest possible delivery."

The 2nd cargo Boeing 747 with 90t of medical protective equipment landed from India to Belgrade today. The transportation of valuable supplies purchased by @SerbianGov has been fully funded by the #EU while @UNDPSerbia organized the flight & ensured the fastest possible delivery. pic.twitter.com/pMZqV7dwTg UNDP in Serbia (@UNDPSerbia) March 29, 2020

This resulted in many asking as to why India was allowing the export of medical equipment when it itself was facing a shortage in the times of coronavirus.

Joint Secretary in the Union Health Ministry Luv Agrawal, during a press conference on Tuesday, said, "I am not aware of this. I will check and revert with details."

While many wondered what the consignment contained and whether the items that are on the prohibited list or scarce in India were being sent, sources told India Today TV that none from 'prohibited list' was exported.

"We have not exported anything from the prohibited list. However, items on the 'restricted list' can be sent in a case to case basis depending on the government policies, decisions, prior commitments after assessing info about availability, storage, prod capacity, and anticipated demand," the source said.

According to the commerce ministry's amendment in export policy, dated March 9, 2020, masks, ventilators, the textile raw material for masks and coveralls, fall in the 'prohibited' category of items and cannot be exported.

Meanwhile, another tweet by Cochin Customs clarified that they had cleared a consignment for latex surgical gloves to Serbia.

The tweet read, "Cochin customs in action to clear a consignment of 35 lakhs pairs of sterile latex surgical gloves to Serbia to support the global war against #COVID2019"

Cochin customs in action to clear a consignment of 35 lakhs pairs of sterile latex surgical gloves to Serbia to support the global war against #COVID2019 #IndianCustomsAtWork #cbic pic.twitter.com/T6I7u04pow Cochin Customs (@cochin_customs) March 28, 2020

Sources say, in times of such economic crisis, the export of latex gloves are "providing sustenance for poor rubber farmers and there is no shortage of gloves in India."

An official added that there are around 35 units with a total installed capacity of 100 million pairs in a month. But never worked in full capacity (only reached 20-30 per cent capacity) because of poor demand and import of cheap gloves from Malaysia and China.

However, with the demand for these gloves increasing, Indian farmers and gloves manufacturers are being able to gainfully employ themselves and help in the combat against the coronavirus pandemic.