With multiple hospitals across the country facing shortages, Inox Air Products, that contribute to 50 percent of the medical oxygen market, said that there is enough production to serve the country.
In an exclusive interview with Moneycontrol, Siddharth Jain, director of Inox Air Products that there was a reason to worry only if the Covid-19 wave did not decline in Maharashtra and Gujarat.
“The only problem is the excess supply that is there in the market is in East India like in Odisha and Jharkhand, whereas the demand is mostly coming from Western India – Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh,” he added.
Explaining the reason behind the shortage he said, “The issue is that supply is available in places that are very far away from the demand. We are trying to find a way to transport the same. The ministry of railways has launched the oxygen express, which is moving oxygen by rail, which has not happened before. In many places, because the demand is increasing, it is a hand to mouth situation. We are managing this.”
“Hopefully, this will last only one month and then the hump will go away. There is plenty of stock available. Almost 40,000 tonnes of stock available pan India, across the industry,” he added.
The Centre has also banned the supply of oxygen for industrial purposes except in nine specified industries in view of the shortage of the essential public health commodity in several states amid a spike in COVID-19 infections. The decision will come into effect from April 22.
The Centre has also expedited the installation of 162 PSA oxygen generation plants in health facilities across the country, while the Railways announced special trains to transport the life-saver and several industry majors pitched in by diverting supply to hospitals.
Earlier, the ministry had decided to float a tender for the import of 50,000 MT of medical oxygen.
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