PremiumThe Union Health Ministry on Tuesday claimed that there has been a seven-fold increase in the supply of Liquid Medical Oxygen on May 9. The ministry said the Centre supplied 8,943 metric tonnes (MT) of oxygen on May 9 against 1,340 MT in March, this year.
It added that India's oxygen production has increased from 5,700 MT per day in August 2020 to more than 9,000 MT per day in May, this year.
Premium Premium The Ministry of Health claimed that it has taken a slew of measures to boost the production and supply of oxygen amid the second wave of coronavirus pandemic.
According to the health ministry, the steel sector has the capacity of producing 630 MT of oxygen each day. The SME sector is producing 683 MT of life-saving gas from Air Separation Units each day.
The ministry claimed the Centre has procured one lakh oxygen concentrators under the PM Cares Fund. It added that several refineries and steel plants have set up Jumbo hospital with 12,400 beds with gaseous oxygen.
According to the ministry, Reliance Petrochemicals has set up a 1,000-bed Covid care facility in Maharashtra. Additionally, the BPCL oil refinery has also set up a 1,000-bed Jumbo Covid care facility in Bina, Madhya Pradesh.
The Steel Authority of India (SAIL) has set up a total of 2,500 beds with oxygen facilities in several parts of the country.
The Centre has prohibited the supply of oxygen for non-essential industrial purposes from April 22 due to the high demand for medical oxygen amid the surge in coronavirus cases.
The health ministry also added that it has dispatched a total of 9,200 oxygen concentrators, 5,243 oxygen cylinders, and 19 oxygen generation plants to states and union territories on Tuesday
India received major consignments of oxygen-related supplies from UAE, Israel, USA, Netherland on Monday. Besides, the countries also delivered ventilators/BiPAP/CPAP (610); oxygen concentrators (300) and Favipiravir - 12,600 strips (each strip contains 40 tablets).
The process of effective immediate allocation and streamlined delivery to the recipient states/UTs and institutions is being comprehensively monitoring on a regular basis by the Union Health Ministry.
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