A medical staff (L) wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) walks to collects a rapid antigen test (RAT) for the COVID-19 coronavirus at a testing centre.
The Health Ministry on Sunday informed that the centre has sanctioned the installation of 162 pressure swing adsorption (PSA) plants in public health facilities across states to meet the rising demand for medical oxygen amidst increasing coronavirus cases in the country.
PSA plants manufacture oxygen and enable hospitals to become self-sufficient in their medical oxygen requirement. It also reduces the pressure on the national grid for the supply of medical oxygen.
"PSA #Oxygen Generation Plants: 162 PSA oxygen plants have been sanctioned by Government of India for installation in public health facilities in all States. These will augment medical oxygen capacity by 154.19 MT," the ministry tweeted.
The ministry further added that of the 162 PSA plants sanctioned, 33 have already been built; five in Madhya Pradesh, three each in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Uttarakhand, two each in Bihar, Karnataka and Telangana, and one each in Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Kerala, Maharashtra, Puducherry, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. While 59 more would be installed by the end of April, 80 more would be installed by May 2021. The ministry also added that the cost of the plants, worth Rs 201.58 crores, would be borne by the central government.
"The entire cost of 162 PSA #Oxygen plants amounting to Rs 201.58 crore has been borne by the Central Government. This also includes 7 year maintenance cost to start from 4th year onwards after three years of warranty," the ministry added in a follow-up tweet.
The move follows reports of medical oxygen in different parts of the country. Earlier, the ministry had decided to float a tender to import 50,000 MT of medical oxygen and explore possible sources for import.