Amid rising cases, JSW Group to up Oxygen supply to meet demand

With Karnataka staring at a steep jump in demand of liquid medical oxygen (LMO) to about 1,400 tonnes a day by the first week of May in the worst-case scenario, steel firm JSW Group said on Tuesday it is planning to increase the supply.

Karnataka gets 55-60% of LMO produced at JSW’s Vijayanagar plant in Ballari district. On Monday, the state got about 331 tonnes. “We are working out a plan to optimise steel production and increase the LMO supply,” Rajashekhar Pattanashetty, president at JSW Steel’s Vijayanagar plant, told ET.

The state’s demand for medical oxygen has been rising with a larger number of Covid-19 patients requiring oxygen beds, and even those convalescing at home relying on oxygen. At about 200 plus tonnes a day, Bengaluru makes up a lion’s share of LMO pumped out at JSW’s unit.


The company’s steel mill in Ballari district has more than tripled LMO supply from an average of 200 tonnes in early April to more than 680 tonnes currently, said Pattanashetty. “The supply of medical oxygen from the Vijayanagar plant will touch 11,500 tonnes in April. The day’s high this month was 831 tonnes,” he said.

The plant is also supplying to Maharashtra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, among the other states.

JSW, Pattanashetty said, has created a green corridor for speedy entry and exit of tankers inside the sprawling campus. Within Karnataka, the supply is meeting demands in high-intensity areas including Bengaluru.

The state’s health authorities have mapped different scenarios to estimate oxygen demand as case count jumps.

The Centre, which had earlier capped the use of LMO at 300 tonnes a day earlier, has allowed Karnataka to use 814 tonnes.

Steel plants are required to keep 3.5 days of safety stock of LMO in storage tanks for use in case of technical issues. Steel producers have cut the safety stock to half a day, because of which the LMO supply has increased.