Adityanath inaugurates UP’s biggest oxygen plant

UP CM Yogi Adityanath interacts with family of woman, who was gang-raped in Hathras.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday inaugurated a state-of-the-art cryogenic oxygen plant, which he termed as the “biggest” in the state, that will help with supplies in hospitals.

The ultra-high purity air separation plant with a capacity of 150 tonnes per day (TPD) in Ghaziabad’s Modinagar will produce liquid oxygen, liquid nitrogen and liquid argon, according to INOX Air Products (INOX AP), which has commissioned the plant.

Adityanath, who inaugurated the plant virtually from his office in Lucknow, said the facility would help the state in the fight against coronavirus.

He said that amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the plant would make Uttar Pradesh independent in the field of industrial and medical oxygen. He added that the same company would establish another oxygen plant in Madhyanchal region. The CM said demand for oxygen had increased because of the Covid-19 pandemic and thus it had become a challenge for the state also to ensure supply as per the demand but emphasised that the new plant would make the state self-sufficient in terms of both industrial and medical oxygen.

“On this day of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for ‘Jan Andolan’ for Covid-19, I am happy to inaugurate a 150 TPD capacity Liquid Oxygen Plant in Uttar Pradesh which will help us to fight coronavirus better,” Adityanath tweeted. In another tweet, he described the plant as the “biggest” in the state.

According to INOX AP, the plant has come up as a part of a memorandum of understanding they entered into with the UP government during the ‘Investors Summit 2018’. The foundation stone for the project was laid by PM Modi on July 29, 2018.

“This is the sign of our commitment to bring investment in the state. MoU for this plant was signed in 2018 in the presence of PM Modi. It is our commitment and support to industry that this plant has started production,” the CM tweeted.

INOX AP said the plant would fulfill the need of medical oxygen as well as aid the state’s industrial growth with a robust supply of industrial gases.

“With a potential to produce 150 metric tonnes of liquid oxygen per day, the plant now takes state’s current liquid oxygen manufacturing capacity from 115 metric tonnes to 265 metric tonnes per day,” it said in a statement.

“It will fulfill the oxygen demand of more than 200 hospitals and medical colleges in the state as well as cater to the industrial gases needs of various industries,” INOX AP, one of India’s largest manufacturers of industrial and medical gases, added.

The plant will also have capacity to store 1,000 metric tonnes of liquid oxygen. It will supply oxygen to around 200 government and private hospitals in the state, along with supply to the industry for use in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries, as well as electronic manufacturing, officials said.

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