Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday sanctioned the procurement of 1 lakh Portable Oxygen Concentrators from the PM Cares Fund. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by PM Modi to discuss the measures needed to improve Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) supply for Covid-19 management. The PM instructed that these Oxygen Concentrators should be procured at the earliest and provided in states with high case burden. In addition to the earlier sanctioned 713 PSA plants under PM Cares Fund, 500 new Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen plants have been sanctioned under PM CARES Fund. The PSA plants will augment the supply of Liquid Medical Oxygen at hospitals in district headquarters and Tier 2 cities.
These 500 PSA plants will be established with transfer of the indigenous technology developed by DRDO and CSIR to the domestic manufacturers. Establishing PSA plants and procurement of portable oxygen concentrators will greatly augment the supply of oxygen near the demand clusters, thereby addressing the current logistical challenges in transporting oxygen from plants to hospitals, a statement issued by the government stated. The Covid-19 situation in India has turned grim with the country has been reporting over 3 lakh cases of coronavirus infections daily for almost a week now. Several states/UTs, including the national capital Delhi, have been facing a shortage of medical Oxygen, hospital beds for Coronavirus patients, and medicine. The positivity rate and deaths related to complications of Covid-19 have gone up sharply. In order to limit the spread of the second wave of coronavirus infections, strict regulations like curfew and lockdown are back. States/UTs have also adopted many tighter measures such as heavy fines against mask indiscipline, curbs on social gatherings, etc.