New Delhi, May 6 (PTI) The government on Wednesday said only alcohol-based sanitisers, which are effective against the new coronavirus, are prohibited from exports.

However, the industry can now export non-alcohol based sanitisers.

Amending the March 24 notification wherein exports of all kinds of sanitisers were prohibited, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said: "Only alcohol based hand sanitizers... are prohibited for exports".

There was a shortage of hand sanitisers and face masks in the market amid the coronavirus outbreak as people resorted to panic buying.

According to estimates, India had exported sanitisers worth about USD 485 million in 2018-19. It was about USD 419 billion during April-January 2019-20.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)