NEW DELHI: Companies ranging from state-run oil companies to private steel producers are joining hands with agencies such as
DRDO to set up fresh Covid care facilities near their oxygen units to reduce the requirement to transport gas and deal with the infrastructure constraints.
Government sources told TOI that That close to half-adozen sites have been identified, including in Panipat and Bina where IndianOil and
Bharat Petroleum have refineries. Similarly, JSW’s steel unit in Dolvi (Maharashtra) and
Jindal group’s
Hisar facilities will also have Covid facilities. Hamirpur in UP and Bellary in
Karnataka have been identified as other possible sites.
“Some of these facilities will be ready in around a week,” said a source, adding that the government was looking at innovative ways to address the shortage. Several companies have already extended support. On Thursday, state-run
SAIL said it had supplied 36,747 metric tonnes (MT) of liquid medical oxygen since August 20 as per the requirement and was increasing production to meeting the additional requirement.
To boost supplies, oxygen was being airlifted from
Odisha, which is among the states that has surplus due to the presence of many steel plants.