DRDO to install medical oxygen plants in Delhi, Haryana; equipment arrives at AIIMS, RML

These medical oxygen plants are designed for a flow rate of 1,000 litres per minute to tackle the surge in coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases and subsequent oxygen shortages.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is setting up five medical oxygen plants using the fund allocated from Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations, or popularly known as PM Cares. The ministry of defence on Tuesday announced that the five medical oxygen plants will be installed within the first week of May in hospitals in and around Delhi.

These oxygen plants have been supplied by M/s Trident Pneumatics Pvt. Ltd., Coimbatore, a technology partner of DRDO.

Those five plants will be installed at AIIMS Trauma Centre, Dr Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital, Lady Hardinge Medical College and one at AIIMS in Jhajjar, Haryana. The ministry said two of them reached Delhi on Tuesday and the installation process is already underway at AIIMS and RML Hospital.

The technology for the medical oxygen plant has been developed by DRDO based on the On‐Board Oxygen Generation for LCA, Tejas.

These oxygen plants have been supplied by M/s Trident Pneumatics Pvt. Ltd., Coimbatore, a technology partner of DRDO. The company has been given an order of 48 medical oxygen plants. Apart from these, the government has placed an order for 332 plants with M/s Tata Advanced Systems Limited and the delivery is expected to start from mid-May.

“The delivery schedule is being monitored very closely to deliver before the plants time. Sites are being prepared at each hospital in parallel,” the ministry of defence said in a statement.

The ministry said two of them reached Delhi on Tuesday and the installation process is already underway at AIIMS and RML.

These medical oxygen plants are designed for a flow rate of 1,000 litres per minute to tackle the surge in coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases and subsequent oxygen shortages, according to the ministry. The system is expected to cater to 190 patients at a flow rate of 5 litres per minute and charge 195 cylinders per day.

The technology for the medical oxygen plant has been developed by DRDO based on the On‐Board Oxygen Generation for LCA, Tejas. The ministry stressed that these plants will overcome the logistics issues of oxygen transportation and help the Covid-19 patients in emergency. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has also ordered 120 medical oxygen plants through its industries.