The government will procure one lakh portable oxygen concentrators and install 500 more pressure swing adsorption oxygen plants from the PM Cares Fund, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday, the decision coming at a time when the lack of medical oxygen is killing Covid patients in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and several other parts of the country.
The new purchases, the PM said, would help improve access to oxygen, especially in district headquarters and tier-2 cities.
The PMO said in a statement that the oxygen concentrators and the new PSA plants will greatly augment the supply of oxygen near demand clusters.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Modi to discuss the measures needed to improve the supply of liquid medical oxygen for COVID-19 management.
Modi has directed that these oxygen concentrators should be procured at the earliest and provided in states with high case burden, the statement said.
The 500 new PSA oxygen plants sanctioned under PM Cares Fund are in addition to the earlier sanctioned 713 PSA plants under this fund, the statement added.
Modi tweeted, "1 lakh portable oxygen concentrators will be procured, 500 more PSA oxygen plants sanctioned from PM-CARES. This will improve access to oxygen, especially in district HQs and Tier-2 cities."
1 lakh portable oxygen concentrators will be procured, 500 more PSA oxygen plants sanctioned from PM-CARES. This will improve access to oxygen, specially in district HQs and Tier-2 cities. https://t.co/oURX74RYt1
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 28, 2021
These 500 PSA plants will be established with the transfer of indigenous technology developed by DRDO and CSIR to the domestic manufacturers.
Establishing PSA plants and procurement of portable oxygen concentrators will greatly augment the supply of oxygen near the demand clusters, thereby addressing the current logistical challenges in transporting oxygen from plants to hospitals, the statement said.
The demand for the life-saving gas has increased with the surge in the COVID cases with several hospitals sending out SOS for its supply. Several deaths have also been reported due to lack of oxygen supply in hospitals.
The DRDO will set up as many as 500 oxygen plants within the next three months from the allocation made by the PM Cares Fund, defence minister Rajnath Singh said on Wednesday.
The Indian Air Force has ordered round-the-clock readiness of its entire heavy-lift fleet and substantial numbers of its medium-lift fleets to rapidly meet Covid-19 related tasks across the country and overseas, Air Chief Marshal R.K. S. Bhadauria told Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday in a meeting.
During the review meeting, Modi stressed the need to increase the speed, scale and safety of operations in transporting oxygen tankers and other essential material.
Ally countries including Australia, Ireland, Singapore, China, Thailand and the UAE have also come forward to send in oxygen to the country in the time of need.
