A few days after the Delhi Cabinet’s approval, the Medical Oxygen Production Promotion Policy 2021 was notified on Friday.
Health Minister Satyendar Jain said, “The Medical Oxygen Production Promotion Policy 2021 provides several incentives to the private sector to set up oxygen production plants and storage facilities. This will help us tackle the problem of oxygen shortage in the future and avert a crisis like we saw in the past. The city Government is preparing to combat any future waves of Covid-19 on a war-footing and is devoted towards ensuring that it is better equipped for any such crisis.”
The target of the policy is to set up Liquid Oxygen (LOX) manufacturing facilities of 50-100 MT capacity, non-captive oxygen generation plants (PSA/Air Separation Unit technology) of minimum 10 MT and maximum 50 MT capacity up to a total of 100 MT, installation of captive oxygen generation plants (PSA/Air Separation Unit technology) of minimum 500 LPM capacity at hospitals and nursing homes to cater to their peak demand for medical oxygen up to a total capacity of 200 MT and setting up of cryogenic tankers of minimum carrying capacity of 10 MT for the exclusive purpose of ferrying liquid medical oxygen (LMO) up to a total capacity of 500 MT.
A plan to set up LMO storage tanks of minimum 10 MT capacity up to a total capacity of 1,000 MT is also included.
According to Delhi Government officials, power subsidy shall be made available to Liquid Oxygen Generation Plants and non-captive Oxygen Generation Plants (PSA/ASU) at Rs 4 per unit consumed in the manufacturing process for the first five years from the date of commencement of commercial production.
Full reimbursement of gross SGST shall be made to Liquid Oxygen Generation Plants and non-captive Oxygen Generation Plants (PSA/ASU) within a month of commissioning of the plant.
The applicants for a grant of subsidy/incentive shall be invited within a window of 15 days from the date of notification of this policy.
“In case the total capacity applied for, till the cut-off date i.e., 15 days from the date of notification of this policy, exceeds the target capacity, the selection shall be made through draw of lots from among all eligible applications, till the time the target capacity is achieved,” a Government official said. “In case the total capacity applied for is less than the target capacity, all applications shall be considered, and subsequently, a 15-day window for applications shall be opened up every month until the target capacity is achieved/exceeded up to a maximum of six months from the date of notification of this policy,” he added.
Earlier, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said, “The Medical Oxygen Production Promotion Policy 2021 provides several incentives to the private sector to set up oxygen production plants, storage facilities, and oxygen tankers. This policy will help improve oxygen availability in Delhi, which became a huge bottleneck in handling the last Covid-19 wave.”