Amid hospitals across the country facing a shortage of liquid medical oxygen, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday announced that the Centre will procure one lakh portable oxygen concentrators through the PM Cares Fund.
He further announced that as many as 500 additional PSA (Pressure Swing Adsorption) oxygen plants have been sanctioned under the PM Cares Fund. Previously, the Centre had sanctioned 713 plants.
The decision follows a high-level meeting chaired by Modi in the backdrop of coronavirus infections spiralling out of control in the country.
During the meeting, the prime minister and various top officials discussed the shortage of liquid medical oxygen across India with Modi directing officials to provide oxygen concentrators to states reporting a high Covid-19 caseload.
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"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,” Modi tweeted.
These 500 PSA plants will be established with the transfer of the 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 life-saving gas has increased with the surge in the COVID cases with several hospitals sensing out SOS for its supply. Several deaths have also been reported due to lack of oxygen supply in hospitals.
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(With PTI inputs)
