The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare recently sanctioned 162 Pressure Swing Adsorption Plants to increase oxygen capacity in the country.
Key Highlights
The new plants will reduce the burden on the National grid for its supply of medical oxygen.
Of these 162 Pressure Swing Adsorption plants, 33 have been installed. Of these five have been installed in Madhya Pradesh, three in Chandigarh, four in Himachal Pradesh, three each in Uttarakhand and Gujarat, one each in Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Maharashtra, Punjab, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Puducherry. Fifty-nine of these plants are to be installed by April end and eighty are to be installed in May.
Recent Development
-
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare recently announced that hundred of these 162 Pressure Swing Adsorption plants are to be installed under PM-CARES fund. PM-CARES is Prime Minister Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations.
-
The Ministry of External Affairs recently announced that India is to import 50,000 million tonnes of medical oxygen.
Background
The need for medical oxygen in the country has increased with raising COVID-19 infections due to the double mutant. The double mutant COVID-19 that is increasing in the country and is spreading at a faster rate as compared to the earlier mutants. India recently became the second most COVID-19 infected country in the world overtaking Brazil.
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is the most affected state. The consumption of medical oxygen in the state has reached its maximum of 1,250 tonnes. Maharashtra is additionally taking fifty tonnes from Gujarat and another fifty tonnes from Maharashtra.