Oxygen plants to get 24×7 power

The Union power ministry has stepped up efforts to ensure continuous supply of electricity to medical oxygen plants across the country as India battles a deadly second wave of covid-19, said two government officials aware of the development.

Some of these measures include shifting underground a critical portion of a power supply cable to a medical oxygen plant in Dehradun to prevent bird hits from tripping the line and recalibrating the electricity link to another plant in Uttar Pradesh, the officials said, seeking anonymity.

With India continuing to grapple with an acute shortage of oxygen, the Union power ministry, along with state electricity distribution companies (discoms), has completed an audit of electricity supply to all medical oxygen-producing plants in the country to ensure uninterrupted operations.

Also, state-run Rural Electrification Corp. (REC) has been appointed as the nodal agency for monitoring power supply to 73 major oxygen generation plants in India, said two government officials aware of the development.

Ensuring constant power supply to medical oxygen plants is critical as even a brief power cut at such facilities can cause a drop in pressure, setting back the entire production process by about 2-3 hours.