Centre gives nod to utilise O2 produced in State

The Central government has, in principle, granted permission to the State to utilise liquid medical oxygen manufactured in the State for treating COVID-19 patients here, said Minister for Industries Jagadish Shettar, who is also the Minister in charge of oxygen supply.

Speaking to reporters here on Wednesday, he said the Centre was expected to issue a formal notification in this regard. So far, oxygen produced by companies in the State would be distributed through a centralised system.

He said efforts were on to revive defunct oxygen gas plants and to leverage the Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd. oxygen gas generation capacity at their Yelahanka, Raichur, and Bidar plants.

“Similarly, we are in talks to procure another compressor for bottling of oxygen in KPCL Raichur plant,” the Minister said. After the Supreme Court order of 1,200 tonne allocation to Karnataka, the Centre has increased allocation to 1,015 tonne from 965 tonne.

Out of 1,015 tonne, 765 tonne was the allocation from within the State from six main producers, 60 tonne from MSME PSA plant that have been authorised by the Central government and 190 tonne was to be brought from other States (160 tonne from Odisha and 30 tonne from Andhra Pradesh).

“On an average, we are getting 875 tonne every day,” Mr Shettar said. Noting that oxygen was allocated based on the active cases in each district, he said: “We are also monitoring the daily supply of LMO at oxygen refilling stations and their supply to the allotted hospitals.”

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