Covid-19: Piyush Goyal reviews availability, supply of medical oxygen

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday reviewed the availability and supply of medical oxygen in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, and directed officials to take special care of areas where connectivity gets affected due to adverse weather conditions, an official statement said.

Officials of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed the meeting that as of now, there is no major problem reported in manufacturing, storage, transport and supply of medical oxygen.

The minister said "adequate arrangements should be in place for any eventuality or sudden spurt in demand."

He directed that special care should be taken to make available the oxygen supply in areas where connectivity gets affected at this time of the year due to adverse weather conditions.

The average monthly consumption of medical oxygen was 902 MT/day in April and it has gone up to 1,512 MT/day as of July 15, the statement said, adding there is sufficient stock of over 15,000 MT currently.

"It was observed that the overall position of the present production and supply of medical oxygen, as compared to the total projection of the requirement by end of this month, is comfortable in all the states.

"In states, metros and districts, where the active cases are large in number, the position of supply and storage is adequate," it said.

Similarly, appropriate arrangements have been made for making available medical oxygen at remote places, it added.

The percentage of total Covid-19 cases on oxygen support, including those in ICU, has declined to 4.58 per cent on Thursday, it said, adding medical oxygen storage capacity is also being enhanced by almost 10 per cent from 5,938 MT as on March 1.

It further said all the major manufacturers of cylinders and cryogenic vessels are now registered on public procurement portal Government e-Marketplace (GeM), and the manufacturers of medical oxygen generators are in the process of registering.