The upstream oil and gas explorer has already placed orders for 34,673 oxygen concentrators with overseas firms for immediate supply, which are expected to be delivered by June

NEW DELHI : As part of its plan to source 100,000 oxygen concentrators, state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has placed an order for 40,000 units with domestic manufacturers, the public sector unit said in a statement on Monday.

The upstream oil and gas explorer has already placed orders for 34,673 oxygen concentrators with overseas firms for immediate supply, which are expected to be delivered by June.

With the country’s healthcare system unable to tackle the unprecedented crisis, state-run and private firms have stepped in to help facilitate efforts to combat the second wave of the pandemic, which is raging across the country. The situation is alarming, with the deaths of critically ill covid-19 patients due to low oxygen.

An oxygen concentrator is a medical device that draws in ambient air, passes it through a molecular sieve to concentrate room oxygen to therapeutic levels and deliver it to a patient. It provides the patient supplemental or extra oxygen. These devices can supply a continuous stream of oxygen at flow rates of up to 10 litres per minute.

“To help the country tide over oxygen shortage during the second wave of covid-19, on behalf of government of India, ONGC has been given the responsibility to procure one lakh oxygen concentrators based on its understanding of global supply chain and logistics. Government of India will bear the cost of procuring these concentrators," the ONGC statement said.

“Within a short period, ONGC placed orders for 34,673 Oxygen concentrators on overseas vendors for immediate supply. Out of these, 2,900 are expected to be received by 21 May and rest in staggered delivery from May to end June 2021. Further, to promote domestic capacity, order has been placed for 40,000 units of oxygen concentrators on domestic manufacturers," the statement added.

India is facing an acute shortage of medical oxygen, medicines, vaccines, hospital and ICU beds. The government has been facing increasing criticism over its mishandling of the second wave, with superspreader events, such as political rallies and Kumbh Mela.

To tackle the crisis, around 1,500 pressure swing absorption (PSA) oxygen plants are being set up through the contribution of PM Cares Fund and state-run firms, among others. State-owned oil and gas firms are setting up PSA medical oxygen generation plants at 100 places in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Goa, Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and Delhi.

“In addition, medical grade oxygen generation plants are also being set up with ONGC support in 10 government hospitals in three states of India," the statement said.

India’s state-run refiners are also setting up 2,000 beds for the treatment of covid-19 patients near their refineries at Panipat, Bina in Madhya Pradesh, Kochi in Kerala, Bathinda in Punjab, and Chennai in Tamil Nadu. State-run Indian Oil Corporation Ltd is also planning to contract liquid medical oxygen from industrial gases firm Linde’s plant in China on a commercial basis as reported by Mint earlier.

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