Oxygen concentrators, medical equipment bulk of cargo at KIA

BENGALURU: Oxygen concentrators are the main medical cargo that are currently being imported during the second wave of the pandemic. Customs officials at the Kempegowda International Airport here have cleared 12,000 imported oxygen concentrators between April 26 and May 16, said informed sources.

“The oxygen concentrators have been imported largely by private entities such as small hospitals, NGOs and individuals from several countries,” said the sources.

This apart, the Customs have cleared the import of 61,000 kg of Molecular Sieve (Zeolite) by Tata Advanced Systems Ltd between May 16 and 17 for the fabrication of Medical Oxygen Plants (MOPs) by the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO). In a bid to fulfill the oxygen needs of Covid-19 patients, the DRDO has decided to set up 500 MOPSs across the country within three months under the PM-CARES fund.

The premier R&D organisation has initiated fabrication of 380 MOPs with the release of supply orders to Tata Advanced Systems Ltd, Bengaluru for for 332 MOPs and to Trident Pneumatics Pvt Ltd, Coimbatore, for 48 of them, with a target of producing 125 plants per month. Zeolite molecular sieves are used in industrial applications as highly efficient adsorbents for separation processes in gas or liquid phase.

“Last year, soon after the pandemic broke out, there were huge consignments of personal protection equipment (PPE), masks, gloves, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to manufacture essential drugs for Covid-19 management, ventilators among other medical equipment which were being imported into India. This time, it’s oxygen concentrators, ventilators and some number of humidifiers which are being imported from across the world.

OVER 50,000 KG OF ZEOLITE REACHES KIA

Bengaluru: Four chartered flights from Rome, carrying a total of 50,575 kilograms of zeolite, a crucial component used in oxygen generation, reached Kempegowda International Airport, in the last two days. An airport source said, “The flights on Monday carried 34,200 kilograms of Zeolite while those that reached on Tuesday carried 16,375 kgs of it. All of them came in drums with each one accommodating 125 kgs of the mineral. “ All are bound to Malur