At least, 162 Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen plants have been sanctioned for installation in public health facilities in all States to augment the medical oxygen capacity by over 154 Metric Tonnes, the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday.
In a series of tweets, the Ministry said, out of 162 PSA plants sanctioned by the Centre, 33 have already been installed of which five are in Madhya Pradesh, four in Himachal Pradesh, three each in Chandigarh, Gujarat and Uttarakhand, two each in Bihar, Karnataka and Telangana and one each in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Kerala, Maharashtra, Puducherry, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.
The Ministry further said that in addition to 162 plants already sanctioned, the States have requested the Centre for more than 100 such additional plants which are also being sanctioned. Out of 162 PSA Oxygen plants, 33 have been installed.
By the end of this month, 59 will be installed and by the end of next month 80 will be installed. The Ministry said, the entire cost of 162 PSA Oxygen plants amounting to over 201 crore rupees has been borne by the Central Government.
The PSA plants manufacture oxygen and help hospitals become self-sufficient in their requirement for medical oxygen, while also reducing the burden on the national grid for its supply of medical oxygen.
A total of 162 PSA oxygen plants have been sanctioned by the Government for installation in public health facilities in all states, the Ministry tweeted. “These will augment medical oxygen capacity by 154.19 MT.”
“The entire cost of 162 PSA oxygen plants amounting to Rs 201.58 crore has been borne by the central government. This also includes a 7-year maintenance cost to start from 4th year onwards after three years of warranty,” the ministry said in a series of tweets.
India reported a record 2,61,500 new coronavirus cases and 1,501 deaths on Sunday, while active cases have surpassed the 18-lakh mark, the Ministry data stated.
Earlier, the ministry had decided to float a tender for import of 50,000 MT of medical oxygen. It has been directed to finalise the tender for the same and also explore possible sources for import identified by the missions of the Ministry of External Affairs.