L&T joins national effort to overcome oxygen shortage

At a time when India is reeling in the wake of the second wave of Covid-19 which has consequently led to a shortage of oxygen, infrastructure major L&T has immediately started working towards a long-term solution to meet the medical-grade oxygen demand in the country.

L&T will soon start delivering 22 oxygen generators to various hospitals in India, where scarcity is most acute. These units will absorb air from the atmosphere before converting it into medical-grade oxygen and pumping it into pre-existing pipes in the hospitals.

Of these, the parts of the first tranche of nine concentrators will reach India by May 9.

Read | Putting officers in jail won't bring oxygen to Delhi, says SC; seeks info on allocation in 3 days

These will subsequently be delivered from May 15 to hospitals that are in dire need and do not possess the required infrastructure to receive bulk oxygen supply.

In a press statement, L&T CEO & MD, S N Subrahmanyan, said, “This is an unprecedented situation, and we are extremely pained by the consequences of the dire shortage of oxygen. Nothing could be more important than human life and L&T is committed to stand by the nation. Our teams in India and abroad have, with single-minded attention in the last few days, been able to procure the oxygen generators and other components to assemble PSA units. Together we shall all overcome the Covid-19 scourge”.

L&T is sourcing the components from various parts of the world. Once assembled at L&T’s Hazira Manufacturing Complex, each of the parts will be compact, stand-alone oxygen-making units. After testing, they will be dispatched to various hospitals where they will immediately start producing medical-grade oxygen as per the requirements. Each unit has a compressor, dryer, oxygen generator, and two storage tanks that could cater to hospitals or medical facilities with over 1,750 beds.

Also Read | People are dying: HC slams Centre over oxygen shortage

The units work on the plug-and-play principle. Once all the constituent parts are fabricated, the compressor allows the air to reach a particular pressure within a few minutes. The generator then starts pumping oxygen into pipes.

Each of the units has a capacity range from 500 litres per minute (LPM) to 1,000 LPM. The 500 LPM machine can potentially service 50-plus beds at any point of time. A 1,000 LPM machine could service 100-plus beds simultaneously.

L&T’s contribution is to meet the long-term oxygen demand of the hospitals. These permanent units will serve the hospitals for the next 10-15 years.