Sanitizer dispensers in demand as shops, offices open for business

TRICHY: The demand for hand sanitizer dispensers had shot up after the Covid-19 outbreak and many small-scale entrepreneurs have been cashing in on this demand, even manufacturing automatic and foot-operated hand sanitizer dispensers. As government offices, commercial outlets and industries have been instructed to ensure availability of sanitizers, manufacturers are receiving bulk orders for production of sanitizer dispensers.
“Instead of insisting on visitors to visit our washrooms, we have placed the foot-operated sanitizer dispenser at the office entrance.It is quite useful in ensuring that the visitor is disinfected,” said M Subburaman, director of NGO Scope.
The 4.5 feet tall foot-operated sanitizer dispenser, costing Rs1,800, has a lever and can be placed on any flat surface. Stepping on the foot pedal will move the lever to apply pressure on the sanitizer bottle’s pump. “We received a lot of calls from government offices and private establishments. From producing 250 devices in a week, we have scaled up the production to 500 devices per week after relaxation in lockdown norms,” said M P Palanisamy, proprietor of KS Groups in Trichy, that manufactures foot-operated dispensers.
There is a similar demand for automatic hand sanitizer dispensers fabricated by a Thuvakudi-based Clear Aqua Technologies. The dispenser equipped with a sensor to detect hands and is capable dispensing exactly 2.5 ml of hand sanitizer each time.
“The automatic sanitizer dispenser is electric powered and made of wood-plastic composite, which is flame retardant. With a capacity to store 4 litres, the device can pump out the liquid in a matter of 0.2 seconds and is most suitable for large-scale industries, hospitals and ITES offices,” Ganeshwaran Kuppuraj, the developer of the device, told TOI.