Centre undertakes multiple initiatives to enhance
Oxygen availability, distributionand storage infrastructure;
Oxygen availability increased through higher production and imports, setting up of PSA Plants, and Procurement of Oxygen Concentrators;
Oxygen Tanker availability strengthened by Conversion of Nitrogen and Argon Tankers, Import, Domestic Manufacturing, and Rail and Air Transportation;
Oxygen Digital Tracking System setup for real time monitoring;
Last mile infrastructure strengthened by increasing number & capacity of Cryogenic Tankers at Hospitals and procurement of MedicalOxygen;
General Financial Rules relaxed to fast-track procurement of critical supplies.
In
order to address the surge in demand for oxygen, the Central Government
has undertakenkey measures to increase the availability, streamline the
distribution and strengthen the oxygen storage infrastructure in the
country. The steps undertaken focused on the entire oxygen supply chain.
These include efforts for improving oxygen production, enhancing tanker
availability to optimizelogistics, improving oxygen storage at thelast
mile, and easing norms of procurement.
Oxygen
availability has been enhanced by increase in Production Capacity and
production, setting up of Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) Plants, import
of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO)from Overseas, and Procurement of Oxygen
Concentrators. For enhancing tanker availability to streamline
transportation, Nitrogen and Argon tankers have been converted, tankers
and containers have been imported, domestic manufacturing of
tankersincreased, andrail and air transportation of tankers is being
undertaken to reduce turn-around time.Oxygen Digital Tracking System
(ODTS) has been setup of for real time monitoring, and driver
availability is being enhanced with training of MHV drivers. For
improving oxygen storage, number & capacity of cryogenic tankers at
hospitals is being enhanced andMedicalOxygen cylinders are being
procured.Relaxation of General Financial Rules (GFR) has been undertaken
to enable faster procurement of critical supplies. The details
regarding the measures undertaken by the Central Government on all
fronts of the oxygen production, transportation, storage and
infrastructure are as given hereunder.
Increase in Oxygen Production and Capacity Enhancement
Oxygen
production has increased from 5700 MT/day in Aug’20 to 9,446 MT/day in
May’21. The production capacity has increased from 6817 MT/ day to 7314
MT/day, and capacity utilization has gone up from 84% to 129% during
this period
Steel
companies from both the public and private sectors, have stepped up
efforts to meet the nation’s requirement of medical oxygen. On 4th May, 2021, the Total
Liquid Medical Oxygen Production by the Steel plants was 3680.30 MT.
The total LMO Supply per day was up from an average 1500-1700 MT in
mid-April to 3131.84 MT on 25thApril, and further to4076.65 MT on 4th May.
Commensurate
with the increase in production and demand, LMO sale in the country has
also increased from about 1,300 MT/day in March’ 21 to 8,920 MT/day on 6th May.During the first wave of COVID-19, the maximum sale of 3095 MT/day of LMO was seen on 29th September, 2020. The sale of LMO grew more than five-fold from 1559 MT/day on March 31, 2021 to over 8000 MT mark by 3rd May, 2021.
Oxygen Production Capacity Enhancement Plans
Additional
capacity expansion is planned in the near future to enhance oxygen
production capacity. The measures in this regard include additional 70
MT/day production expected in Karnataka; Supplies from Air Separation
Unitof SME sector; Jumbo Hospitals with gaseous oxygen from
refineries(11,950 beds), power plants (3,850 beds), and steel plants
(8,100 beds) are being set up. Supply of oxygen for non-essential
industrial purposes has been prohibited w.e.f. 22nd April,
2021, resulting in ~1,000 MT of additional oxygen availability.
Additional capacity expansion of 630 MT/day is also planned by Steel
sector.
1,594
PSA Plants are being established to improve Oxygen Supply near demand
clusters. It includes 162 plants under PM-Cares through MoHFW
sanctioned in 2020, 551 under PM-Cares through MoHFW sanctioned in March
2021, 500 under PM-Cares through DRDO sanctioned on 27 Apr 2021, about
100 by Oil and Gas companies under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural
Gas, and rest by States themselves. 74 of the 162 PSA plants have been
installed and the rest will be installed by June’21. 1,051 additional
PSA Plants sanctioned under PM Cares Fund in March & April’21 will
be commissioned in the next three months in phases.
Import of Liquid Medical Oxygen
50,000
MT of Liquid Oxygen is being imported from overseas, with orders and
delivery schedule for 5,800 MT finalized. Ministry of External Affairs
is actively assisting in securing sources of oxygen from abroad. To
expedite the process, quotations were obtained on 21.04.21. 3 quotations
have been received for 3,500 MT and approved on 21.04.21 with delivery
over 3 months. In addition, 2285 MT of LMO being imported from UAE,
Bahrain, Kuwait and France, a part of which has already arrived.
Procurement of Oxygen Concentrators
Procurement
of 1 lakh Oxygen Concentrators has been sanctioned under PM Cares Fund
on 27.04.2021. Expression of Interest was issued on 29.04.21 and Offer
has been receivedfor 2,500 units. There has been good response to the
tender floated by ONGC. Offers for 50,000 concentrators have been
received from domestic manufacturers. Award for 9,800 units have been
finalized with delivery schedule of 4,800 units on 15.05.21 and 5,000
units on 27.05.21. In addition, 55 bidders have expressed interest to
supply 70,000 – 75,000 units of concentrators. Orders are being
finalized and will be placed based on promised delivery schedule.
Oxygen Allocation Process
Oxygen
Allocation process has been established to equitably supply oxygen to
all states in line with the demand.First oxygen allocation order issued
on 15.04.21 was restricted to a few states like Maharashtra, Gujarat,
Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, etc.As the second wave of pandemic
spread to other states, demand for Oxygen increased from other states.
The formula of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare was used to
estimate Oxygen requirement for each state in line with the active cases
in the state, and maximum efforts were made to align Oxygen Allocation
to the estimated demand for each state. Other factors such as
availability of hospital infrastructure including ICU beds were also
taken into account while finalizing allocation.
Oxygen
Allocation process has continuously evolved to streamline the
distribution of Oxygen in the country. Oxygen allocation to States/UTs
is dynamic in nature,based on requirement as per Health Ministry norms,
and consultation with States/UTs, manufacturers & other
stakeholders. There is a mismatch between producing and consuming
states, and equity among states to be maintained. Moreover, one-third of
the production is concentrated in East India, while the ~60% of demand
for oxygen is in North and South India, resulting in transportation
challenges. Mapping of source and destination of oxygen has been
completed to optimize transportation plan in consultation with
States/UTs, manufacturers & other stakeholders.
Zone
|
Production
|
Allocation
|
|
MT
|
%
|
MT
|
%
|
|
North
|
1,174
|
13%
|
2,897
|
33%
|
|
East
|
2,867
|
32%
|
1,035
|
12%
|
|
West
|
2,838
|
32%
|
2,688
|
30%
|
|
South
|
1,980
|
22%
|
2,239
|
25%
|
|
Total
|
8,859
|
100%
|
8,859
|
100% |
Enhancing Oxygen Tanker Availability – Conversion & Import of Tankers
Multiple
interventions have been undertaken to improve tanker availability.
Availability of Oxygen Tankers has been improved with conversion of
Nitrogen & Argon Tankers &their Imports. In March 2020, the
capacity of tankers was 12,480 MT and their number was 1040. Now, the
capacity of tankers has gone up to 23,056 MT and their number has
increased to 1681, which includes 408 converted tankers and 101 imported
tankers. 408 out of the 1,105 Nitrogen and Argon Tankers have been
converted into oxygen carrying tankers so far; and another 200 tankers
will be converted shortly. 248 oxygen tankers are being imported, with
101 tankers imported so far and another 58 tankers to be imported in
next 10 days; In addition, 100 tankers are being manufactured
domestically.
Oxygen Tankers being transported by Rail and Air to reduce turnaround time
Railways are being used for long distance transport of tankers through Roll on – Roll Off service. So
far, Indian Railways has delivered nearly 4200 MT of LMO in more than
268 tankers to various states across the country.68 Oxygen Expresses
have already completed their journey so far.Till the evening of 9th
May,293MT has been offloaded in Maharashtra; 1,230 MT in UP; 271 MT in
MP; 555 MT in Haryana; 123 MT in Telangana; 40 MT in Rajasthan; and
1,679 MT in Delhi.
Air-lifting
of empty tankersis being done to plants to reduce the turnaround time.
282 tankers with 5505 MT capacity have been airlifted, transporting LMO
in domestic routes. 75 containers with capacity 1293 MT have been
imported from overseas through IAF. In addition, 1252 oxygen cylinders, 3
oxygen generation plantshave been imported through IAF.
Oxygen Digital Tracking System
A
Web and App based Oxygen Digital Tracking System (ODTS) has been
launched to enable real time tracking of Oxygen movement in the country.
Its objectives are effective and instantaneous communication of
allocation orders to plants and dispatches from plants, and toenable
real-time tracking of Oxygen movement in the country from Plants to
States. It integrates with GSTN database for E-waybill based data entry,
Tracking of tankers through GPS, SIM (Driver Mobile No.), FASTag, and
Automated alerts from system for route deviation, unintended stoppages,
delays
Besides,
aVirtual Central Control Roomhas been establishedwith officers from
Additional / Joint secretary officers of Health, Road, Rail, Industry,
Steel and from State Govt. The Control Room is monitoring Oxygen
movement 24 X 7 and to resolve any issues in oxygen transportation.
Training Drivers for Driving Oxygen Tankers
2,500
additional drivers are being trained to drive oxygen tankers by
National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and Logistics Sector Skill
Council (LSSC). Availability of skilled drivers is essential to ensure
uninterrupted transportation of Oxygen. Since LMO Transportation is
covered under Hazardous Chemicals regulations, drivers with adequate
training and having HAZ Cargo license only are allowed to operate the
trucks. Immediate focus is to make Training module has been developed by
NSDC and LSSC in English and Hindi &20 master trainers identified.
Online Refresher coursesareplanned for non-active drivers with training
in handling HAZ chemicals. 73 locations have beenidentified for
organizing physical training programs for drivers along with oxygen
plants.
Enhancing Storage of Oxygen – Cryogenic Tanks
Number
of cryogenic tanks for storing oxygen at hospital has increased to 901
from 609 since March 2020. Availability of medical oxygen cylinders has
increased from 4.35 Lakhs in March 2020 to 11.19 Lakh in May 21.
Additional, 3.35 Lakh cylinders are being procured in line with
estimated increase in demand. Orders have been placed for additional
1,27,000 cylinders on 21.04.21. DRDO is procuring 10,00,000 NRM valves
under PM Cares Fund - this device will reduce wastage of oxygen by
shutting out the supply during exhalation.
Measures to expedite procurement of critical supplies
To
expedite procurement of critical supplies, General Financial
Rules(GFR)have been relaxed to enable expedited procurement of critical
supplies for COVID Management. All restrictive provisions have been
removed to enable larger participation and faster procurement. Bank
Guarantees have been waived off for all procurement. 100% payment of
advance has been approved for critical COVID procurement. Procurement on
nomination basishas been permitted in case of constrained supply
market.
YB/SS
