Pyare Khan, a Nagpur-based businessman, spent around Rs 1 crore to buy 32 tonnes of oxygen and supply them to Government Medical College Nagpur for treating covid patients.
Khan is into transport business and is owner of Amshi Transport. Through newspapers, he learnt about severe shortage of oxygen in hospitals, he said.
"The holy month of Ramzan had started. We offer Zakat (donation for charitable causes) during this period, and I thought this time instead of giving Zakat to a mosque or madarsa, we should do something to address the shortage of oxygen," Khan said.
Initially, he contacted suppliers in Bengaluru and arranged two oxygen tankers, paying two or three times the normal rate.
Nagpur MP and Union minister Nitin Gadkari helped him arrange oxygen supply from Visakhapatnam, he said. Last week, he had sent a tanker carrying 16 tonnes of oxygen to the medical college from Bhilai, Chhattisgarh. He has again sent another tanker carrying the same amount of oxygen.
Khan and his team are also helping the district authorities monitor the transport of oxygen using their professional expertise, Gadkari had told reporters on Tuesday. India is witnessing an acute shortage of oxygen and other basic medical facilities required for the treatment of Covid-19 patients.