Tackling the oxygen crisis: As people gasp, waiting time to install O2 plants goes up

The state government is approving applications seeking to set up oxygen plants on a priority

 The state government is approving applications seeking to set up oxygen plants on a priority. But due to the ever-increasing demand, the waiting time to install plants has gone up. This is due to a dearth of technical experts and skilled workforce required to set up such plants.

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Till April the state government had approved 54 applications seeking permission to set up oxygen plants.

On state government’s request, the micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) sector has come forward to set up Oxygen plants. It is also willing to assist the government in setting up medical oxygen plants in 47 districts of the state which have been sanctioned by the PM under the PM-Cares Fund, set up last year to collect donations to battle Covid-19.

“The demand for technical experts and skilled workforce required to set up Oxygen plants has increased manifold across the country, including Uttar Pradesh, since March-April. As the demand has gone up, skilled workforce is scarce,” said Pankaj Kumar, president, Indian Industries Association.

“The waiting time to start a project (oxygen plant) has gone up by two-and-a-half months. Companies in the business of installing oxygen plants are flooded with orders,” said Manmohan Agarwal, senior vice-president, IIA.

The IIA has requested the state government to set up a help desk dedicated only for oxygen plant projects and make available latest technology for setting up these plants.

The MSMEs of Uttar Pradesh have also requested the state government to make available to them the DRDO’s latest technology relating to liquid oxygen plants.

“The DRDO has the latest technology of liquid oxygen plants. We have requested the state government to make available this technology to us and required skilled workforce to set up oxygen plants,” said Kumar.

Most oxygen plants being installed in the state are directly sourced from companies in the business of installing oxygen plants.

“There are around seven or eight big companies that install readymade oxygen plants. These companies assemble oxygen plants on-site,” said Atul Bhushan Gupta, vice-president, IIA.

“Now, due to manifold increase in demand of Oxygen plants there is a waiting time of two-and-a-half months if you place an order today for installing a plant,” Gupta added.

“Another way to install an oxygen plant is to procure all parts and material required yourself. But only those who have full knowledge about oxygen plants can adopt this method. It also time consuming,” said Gupta.

Also, individual efforts are also being made. Industrialist RK Chaudhary of Varanasi has donated an oxygen plant to Deen Dayal Upadhaya Government Hospital. The plant has a capacity to generate 650 litres of oxygen per minute.

“The plant was purchased from Airox Technologies Pvt Limited, Aurangabad. It has started operating from April 29,” said Chaudhary.

Rohit Maheshwari, owner of the Maheshwari Gas Pvt Ltd, Meerut, started operating his plant from last week. It has the capacity to refill around 1,000 jumbo oxygen cylinders daily.

Meanwhile, the IIA is also in the process of procuring 12 oxygen plants from Russia with the help of state government.

“Negotiations will start soon to purchase 12 oxygen plants from Russia,” Kumar said.

What happened to the 42 O2 plants sanctioned in 2018?

Uttar Pradesh could have easily warded off the present crisis, had not the government’s 2018 plan to set up oxygen plants in 42 government hospitals across the state, hit a bureaucratic hurdle.

In the 2018 budget, the government had sanctioned ₹200 crore to set up oxygen plants in 42 government hospitals across the state, each plant with a capacity of 2000 MTD. The completion year was 2019. Among these hospitals, four were in the state capital, including Jhalkari Bai, Civil Hospital, Bhaurao Deoras Hospital and Thakurganj Hospital.

But the project is yet to take off after a controversy over the health department’s tendering process.