India's federal government has lifted ban on the export of alcohol-based hand sanitizers, officials said Friday.

An official notification to this regard was issued on Thursday by the country's Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).

"The export of alcohol based hand sanitizers in containers with dispenser pumps is free for export," reads the official notification, "Making export of alcohol based sanitizers in any form/packaging freely exportable with immediate effect."

Hand sanitizers were in demand because of the COVID-19 pandemic in many countries.

The ban had been imposed to ensure an adequate supply for India's domestic market.

Health experts say washing hands with soaps or using alcohol-based hand sanitizers is one of the key measures to contain the spread of COVID-19, alongside social distancing and using face masks.

Immediately after the outbreak of COVID-19 people went for panic buying of hand sanitizers and the products were soon out of stock at retail outlets across India.

India's federal health ministry on Friday said its total tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 7,370,468 with 112,161 deaths. Enditem