To reduce the shortage of oxygen during the second wave of Covid, Coal India Ltd is setting up 25 oxygen generation plants at hospitals while another public sector undertaking NLC India Ltd is putting up another 21 such plants, according to a note by the Ministry of Coal.
Coal India will spend around ₹35 crore on this ramp up, while NLC India will spend about ₹15 crore. The plants will be built at public hospitals and medical colleges across eight States, leading to an addition of 3,328 oxygenated beds by Coal India and 1,620 oxygenated beds by NLC India.
Coal India is building ten plants in Madhya Pradesh, six in Jharkhand, four in Maharashtra, and one each in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Three of the plants in Jharkhand are expected to be commissioned this month, while most others will tentatively be commissioned in August. The total production capacity of 20 plants by Coal India will be 12,700 litres per minute. Four other plants will generate 750 cubic metres per hour, while one will be a refilling plant.
Similarly, NLC India is building nine plants in Tamil Nadu, four in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan each, and one in Odisha. The total capacity of NLC India’s plants will be 1,620 litres per minute, and each bed will be supplied with 5 litres of oxygen per minute.