2,500 Oxygen Plants Commissioned Across India in Record 112 Days

NEW DELHI: In a record 112 days, a total of 2,494 Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen generation plants have been commissioned at government hospitals across 736 districts with a capacity of producing 3,324 tonnes of medical oxygen per day. This includes 1,183 PSA plants sanctioned under the PM CARES Fund.

“We are confident of commissioning the remaining 41 PSA oxygen generation plants approved under the PM CARES Fund by the end of this month. This task has been carried in a mission mode and was an example of the ‘whole of government’ working together. Simultaneously, 1,311 plants have been commissioned which were sanctioned by central PSUs and funded by other entities,” said housing and urban affairs secretary Durga Shanker Mishra, who was tasked to lead this programme.

According to a status document on the PSAs built utilising the PM CARES Fund, 100% of the sanctioned plants are operational in 22 states and UTs; in nine other states and UTs over 90% plants have been commissioned; and in the remaining five states less than 90% plants are operating.

Mishra said the government turned the crisis into an opportunity to install these plants at hospitals which had to depend on supply through cylinders. “Now these facilities will go a long way to meet the medical requirements across districts. Under this programme, we also trained nearly 7,000 people with technical background to operate and maintain these plants,” he said. The secretary said these plants are equipped with Internet of Things and by December all will be covered.

Source: ToI