IAF aircraft with 4 cryogenic oxygen tanks from Singapore to reach India today

Union defence minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday reviewed the defence ministry's effort to deal with the present pandemic situation in the country as IAF planes are crisscrossing the skies ferrying oxygen.

A C-17 aircraft of the Indian Air Force will be reaching the Panagarh airbase by Saturday evening carrying four containers of cryogenic oxygen tanks, a day after the minister of home affairs said it is coordinating the lifting of high-capacity tankers from abroad at full throttle to cater to the rising demand of medical oxygen for Covid-19 treatment.

An IAF aircraft will be reaching the Panagarh airbase by Saturday evening carrying oxygen tanks from Singapore.

The C-17 aircraft got airborne at 2am from the Hindan Air Base and reached the Changi International Airport in Singapore at around 7.45am.

As the country is grappling with the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, aggravated by oxygen shortage, the Indian Air Force has come forward with its resources to airlift "medical personnel, critical equipment and medicines". Union defence minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday reviewed the defence ministry's effort to deal with the present pandemic situation in the country.

Apart from Singapore, the Centre is also looking at lifting oxygen tankers from the UAE.

Apart from airlifting oxygen from abroad, IAF is ferrying tanks from one state to another.

Oxygen tank is being lifted inside an aircraft.

IAF aircraft are already ferrying oxygen within the country. Two empty cryogenic oxygen containers are being transported from Jodhpur to Jamnagar by IAF C-17 heavy-lift transports. Another C-17 from the Hindan airbase reached Pune at 10am on Saturday. It will reach the Jamnagar airbase around noon with two empty container trucks for liquid oxygen. On Friday, an IAF C-17 transport plane carried an empty oxygen tanker from Indore to Jamnagar.

The Centre has decided to import 50,000 metric tonne of medical oxygen and the ministry of external affairs was asked to explore possible routes for import through its missions abroad. The government is also planning to airlift 23 mobile oxygen generation plants from Germany.

In its slew of measures taken in the last few days to address the oxygen shortage in the country, the Union home ministry on April 22 directed all states and UTs to treat oxygen vehicles like ambulances and make provision for green corridors to ensure uninterrupted transport of medical oxygen everywhere.