RIL increases medical grade oxygen production to 1,000 MT

RIL has supplied over 15,000 MT of oxygen in April to help nearly 15 lakh patients (Photo: Reuters)Premium
RIL has supplied over 15,000 MT of oxygen in April to help nearly 15 lakh patients (Photo: Reuters)
 2 min read . Updated: 01 May 2021, 02:54 PM IST Kalpana Pathak

Mumbai: Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has ramped up its production of medical-grade oxygen from 700 MT per day to 1,000 MT, constituting more than 11% of the country’s total medical-grade liquid oxygen production, the company said today.

This oxygen is being provided free-of-cost to several state governments across the country to provide immediate relief to over 1 lakh patients on a daily basis, the company said.

TRENDING STORIESSee All

"Our plants at our Jamnagar refinery have been repurposed overnight to produce medical-grade liquid oxygen that is being distributed across India. Our thoughts and prayers are with our fellow countrymen and women. Together, we will overcome these difficult times," said Nita Ambani, chief of Reliance Foundation, the philanthropic arm of RIL.

The company has supplied over 15,000 MT of oxygen in April to help nearly 15 lakh patients while since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, it has supplied over 55,000 MT of medical-grade liquid oxygen across the country.

The company said, to transport gas from its main refinery in Jamnagar and other manufacturing units, it converted nitrogen tankers into transport trucks for medical grade oxygen, through innovative and safe processes that were approved by the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization (PESO), a regulatory body of the Government of India.

RIL also organized the airlifting of 24 ISO containers from Saudi Arabia, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Thailand adding 500 MT of new transportation capacity for liquid Oxygen. These ISO containers will help in removing the transport constraints for medical-grade liquid Oxygen in the country.

In addition, the company is airfreighting more ISO containers over the next few days.

“There is an immediate need to maximize India’s production and transportation capacities for medical grade oxygen. I am proud of our engineers at Jamnagar who have worked tirelessly, with a great sense of patriotic urgency, to meet this new challenge," said RIL CMD Mukesh Ambani, who himself supervises the production and transportation of oxygen from its Jamnagar refinery.

MORE FROM THIS SECTIONSee All

RIL said, prior to the pandemic it was not a manufacturer of medical-grade liquid oxygen. However, responding to the need, its engineers reconfigured and optimized current operations at its Jamnagar refining and petrochemicals complex to produce high-purity medical grade oxygen.

Medical grade liquid oxygen has to be produced in liquid form at -183°C with almost 99.5% purity, which poses extraordinary challenges and risks in production and maximizing tonnage.

Subscribe to Mint Newsletters
* Enter a valid email
* Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.

Click here to read the Mint ePaperMint is now on Telegram. Join Mint channel in your Telegram and stay updated with the latest business news.

Close