Big companies join rescue act, divert oxygen to government hospitals

India’s top steel producers are diverting industrial oxygen supplies to government hospitals in Maharashtra, Odisha, Delhi and Gujarat to meet a shortage of medical oxygen in the wake of rising Covid-19 cases.

“Covid -19 has started spreading again and we need oxygen for saving lives. Oxygen is a raw material in steel plants and, at this crucial time, we have committed to the government to prioritise saving lives over steel making,” JSW chairman Sajjan Jindal tweeted.

The company owns oxygen-making units in Vijayanagar, Dolvi and Salem. It has been supplying more than 180-400 metric tonnes of liquid oxygen from its Dolvi plant in Maharashtra. “We are supplying liquid oxygen with whatever is our capability on a daily basis from Dolvi. We would be supplying around 185 tonnes every day,” said Jayant Acharya, JSW Steel’s director, commercial and marketing.


Reliance Industries too has been supplying oxygen from its Jamnagar refinery via road to state hospitals in Maharashtra, said people with knowledge of the matter. This followed an SoS from Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, who had written to the Prime Minister asking for permission to airlift liquid oxygen.

Maharashtra produces 1,200 metric tonnes (MT) of oxygen while demand can surpass 2,000 MT by the end of April. “We have started lifting quantities from nearby locations… but some of these are long distances and face disruption risks,” Maharashtra chief minister said in his letter.

Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari had recently directed the Mumbai collector to visit steel plants and conduct a feasibility study on getting oxygen supplies from them. The Maharashtra government has asked plants to divert at least 80% of their total production toward medical purposes for three months, said a person close to the development.

In Gujarat, ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel (AMNS) has been supplying liquid oxygen to hospitals in the state.

“We have already committed that our oxygen plant in partnership with Inox Air Products will supply liquid oxygen. We have committed to the steel ministry, health ministry and the Gujarat government to supply oxygen,” said AMNS chief marketing officer Ranjan Dhar. AMNS is supplying around 178 MT per day of liquid oxygen against the state’s daily requirement of 1,786 MT.

State-owned steel maker SAIL has been supplying oxygen for a few months now. Between August and March, the company supplied around 30,000 MT of oxygen to various states. “We have an oxygen plant in all our five integrated steel plants. There we make liquid oxygen and supply it to hospitals. Not just for our own hospitals but the government hospitals and medical units,” said a top SAIL executive.

The prices are fixed by the governments of the respective states, the companies said.

A Tata Steel spokesperson said that it has been supplying liquid oxygen as per the requirements of state governments.

Most steel makers in India produce steel via the basic oxygen process (BOP), which requires several tonnes of oxygen in a gaseous state. One tonne of steel needs 60 normal cubic metres (nm3) of oxygen. On an average, one MT of oxygen could cost a steel maker Rs 11,000 to Rs 17,000 depending on electricity charges and operating efficiencies. Steel makers also use oxygen for value-added ancillary services such as scrap cutting, dilution of certain elements and other laboratory uses.

“We can make and supply oxygen, but the oxygen transportation cost is very high — we don’t have facilities for that. So supply to hospitals in Raigarh, Angul and for other locations, the government needs to come and pick it up,” said Jindal Steel and Power’s managing director VR Sharma.

JSPL has been supplying around 50-100 MT of liquid oxygen to hospitals on a daily basis. “Our policy is very clear. We can even halt production for a while to supply oxygen to the government if the need arises,” said Sharma.