PM asks India Inc to step up oxygen supply, calls for united effort

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held a meeting with leading oxygen manufacturers and industries diverting their oxygen supply for medical use, and discussed utilising their full potential to meet the demand in the coming days.

Modi also stressed the need to increase the availability of oxygen cylinders as well as upgrade the logistics facilities for transportation of oxygen. 

He urged the industry to utilise tankers meant to transport other gases for oxygen supply.

In a separate meeting with the chief ministers of 11 states and Union Territories that have reported the maximum number of Covid-19 cases, the Prime Minister called for “united efforts” to fight the pandemic.

Among the industrialists present in the meeting held via videoconference were Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries; Sajjan Jindal, chairman, JSW group; T V Narendran, managing director and chief executive officer of Tata Steel; Naveen Jindal, chairman, Jindal Steel & Power; Dilip Oommen, CEO, AM/NS India; Soma Mondal, chairman of Steel Authority of India; M Banerjee of Linde; Siddharth Jain of Inox; Noriyo Shibuya, MD of Air Water Jamshedpur; Rajesh Kumar Saraf of National Oxygen; and Saket Tiku, president of All India Industrial Gases Manufacturer’s Association.

The Prime Minister lauded oxygen producers for increasing production in the past few weeks, and thanked industry for diverting industrial oxygen to meet medical requirements in the country.

Many large manufacturers, including steel producers, have been supplying liquid medical oxygen to several states and medical facilities to meet the high demand.  

Asked whether JSW would step up supply, Sajjan Jindal told Business Standard that the company would supply to its maximum capacity. “For us at JSW Steel, saving lives is more important,” he said.

The Prime Minister said the government, states, industry, transporters, and hospitals needed to come together and work in unison.

In the meeting with the chief ministers, Modi said the main reason for India’s success during the first wave of the pandemic was “our united efforts and united strategy”, and reiterated that “we would have to address this challenge in the same way”. He assured the Centre’s full support to all the states in this fight.

On oxygen supply, he said there was a continuous effort to increase oxygen supply. He urged all states to work together and coordinate with one another to fulfil requirements relating to medicines and oxygen.

He also said that states should check hoarding and black-marketing of oxygen and medicines. The Prime Minister said every state should ensure that no oxygen tanker, whether it is meant for any state, is stopped or gets stranded.

The issue of shortage of oxygen was flagged by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. He said a “big tragedy” might happen due to oxygen shortage in hospitals during the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. He also called for a national plan to deal with the crisis.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, too, said the state needed higher quantity of oxygen. He said the daily oxygen requirement was 1,550 tonnes, of which 300-350 tonnes was being brought in from other states. 

An additional 250-300 tonnes should be made available, he added. 

He also said that corporates should be allowed to purchase vaccines as part of CSR activities.

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said the Prime Minister had suggested carrying out an audit of oxygen consumption and avoiding wastage. “Hospitals could be asked to use noninvasive ventilators instead of high flow nasal cannulas to reduce oxygen consumption,” he said.

According to a senior government official in the Uttar Pradesh government, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath held detailed discussions regarding the ongoing vaccination programme, adherence to Covid protocols and strictness, oxygen supply and audit etc.

With inputs from Aneesh Phadnis, Ruchika Chitravanshi, Virendra Singh Rawat, Ishita Ayan Dutt