Tamil Nadu offers incentives for firms producing oxygen, ventilators

CHENNAI: There were nearly 2,000 desperate calls from patients to the unified control room (104) for oxygen or ICU beds on Thursday. Hospital administrators too made frequent calls to the government for oxygen refills. The long line of ambulances outside city hospitals meant patients had to wait up to six hours for admission.
The state’s been allotted 419 tonnes of oxygen, but public health authorities say they need more. “It’s touch and go. We don’t have any buffer,” said a senior official. Sterlite in Tuticorin sent its first consignment on Thursday and the state is awaiting the oxygen express from Odisha by Friday.
“We don’t yet know if all this will suffice as the cases go up,” said a senior official.
Subsidy for manufacturers
To boost supply, the Tamil Nadu government on Thursday announced special incentives including 30% capital subsidy for fresh investments made for manufacturing ventilators and oxygen cylinders and producing medical oxygen. In the case of large investments needed to set up liquid oxygen plants with a capacity of at least10 tonnes, the 30% capital subsidy will be paid across five years.
While TIIC will extend loan with 6% interest subvention, Sipcot and Sidco will allot plots on a priority basis. Such units will get single window clearance without any fee, an official release said.
CII working groups
To aid the government in the war on Covid, the Tamil Nadu chapter of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has set up six special working groups. CII has roped in its past chairmen as well as sector-specific experts to be part of these groups, which will assist the state in ramping up oxygen production, increasing number of beds in government hospitals and achieving 100% vaccination for all employees of member companies in 3-4 months.
“The six working groups will individually focus on oxygen, adding number of beds, creating awareness about Covid among the public, ensuring vaccination for all employees, establishing a helpline for the public and coordinating efforts through CSR activities. We are constantly interacting with the state government and have even met the chief minister and senior officials in the government, who has been very receptive to our initiatives,” S Chandrakumar, chairman, CII TN told TOI.
“We have already supplied 1,000 oxygen concentrators and have placed orders for 5,000 regulators. In addition, we are sourcing 5,000 oxygen cylinders. We are sourcing filled oxygen cylinders including 3,000 from Dubai and 1,000 from Singapore. These will be shipped soon to the state,” Chandrakumar said.
In addition, CII member companies are establishing small oxygen plants in government hospitals including Chengalpet and Sriperumbudur and other parts of Tamil Nadu. “These plants will cater to the oxygen needs of 25-30 patients at a time,” he said.