COVID Crisis: 551 Oxygen Plants to be Set Up Using PM CARES Fund

The plants will be established at identified government hospitals in district headquarters in various states/UTs.

Image used for representation purpose.

(Photo: Twitter/Ministry of Railways)

The Centre on Sunday, 25 April, gave in-principle approval for the allocation of budget from the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PMCARES) Fund for installation of 551 dedicated Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) medical oxygen generation plants at public health facilities in the country, a move that Prime Minister Narendra Modi called “important”.

In a statement, the Prime Minister Office (PMO) said, “The Prime Minister has directed that these plants should be made functional as soon as possible. The Prime Minister said that these plants will serve as a major boost to oxygen availability at the district level.”

These dedicated plants will be established at government hospitals in the districts of various States/UTs. The procurement will be done through the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

PM Modi took to Twitter to say that the move will ensure “oxygen plants in every district”.

“Oxygen plants in every district to ensure adequate oxygen availability. An important decision that will boost oxygen availability to hospitals and help people across the nation,” he tweeted.

The PMCARES Fund had earlier this year allocated Rs 201.58 crore for installation of 162 dedicated Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) Medical Oxygen Generation Plants at public health facilities in the country.

The aim behind establishing PSA Oxygen Generation Plants at government hospitals in the districts is to further strengthen the public health system and ensure that each of these hospitals has a captive oxygen generation facility.

“Such an in-house captive oxygen generation facility would address the day-to-day medical oxygen needs of these hospitals and the district. In addition, the liquid medical oxygen (LMO) can serve as a “top up” to the captive oxygen generation,” the PMO said.

The statement further read that such a system will go a long way in ensuring that government hospitals in the districts do not face sudden disruption of oxygen supplies and have access to adequate uninterrupted oxygen supply to manage COVID-19 and other patients needing such support.