Bhutan king issues decree on oxygen plant work to help India

GUWAHATI: Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said Bhutan King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck on Monday issued a royal decree on request from India to permit resumption of construction work of a private oxygen plant, which was hit due to a lockdown in the Himalayan country last year.
The plant, which will have a daily oxygen generating capacity of 50 MT, is being set up jointly by two entrepreneurs of Bhutan and Guwahati at Bhutan’s Samdrup Jongkhar district bordering Baksa district of Assam. Bhutan shares a 267-km border with Assam on its north and Samdrup Jongkhar, which is one of the border entry points to Bhutan in the eastern sector, is about 100 km from Guwahati.
“The construction of this plant was halted last year when Bhutan declared a national lockdown because of Covid. India’s external affairs minister S Jaishanker yesterday took up the matter with India’s ambassador Ruchira Kamboj, who took it up with Bhutan. Today, the King has issued a royal decree that even in the event of a lockdown in the country, the construction work of the oxygen plant will not be stalled,” Sarma said.
He added that it will take at least 45 days for the plant to be commissioned. “Once it starts, oxygen can be bought by India.” Sarma said Assam has adequate stock of medical oxygen and the state is ramping up its oxygen generating capacity by reviving old plants and roping in smaller private plants. “We have also made concerted efforts to boost oxygen generation and storage capacity in Assam, making it an oxygen-surplus state,” he added.
He said in the next couple of days, Assam would have at least 40MT surplus oxygen daily.