Centre takes stock of O2 preparedness

The Centre has supplied more than 400,000 oxygen cylinders and almost 145,000 oxygen concentrators to states and Union Territories, as it takes stock of oxygen availability amid rising cases of Covid-19.

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal met the Empowered Group-4 on Thursday and officials said the Oxygen Demand Aggregation System developed by the health ministry has been adopted by 20 states.

"Our capacities for most of health care systems and including oxygen supply has more than doubled since the first wave," an official said.


India's current total daily production capacity of liquid oxygen is 8,778 metric tonne as against 6,876 MT per day on October 1, 2020.

The Empowered Group on Emergency Management Plan and Strategy has recommended that for calculation of oxygen demand, the required rates of oxygen flow in non-ICU and ICU settings are 10 and 24 litres per minute per day per case, respectively.

Officials of the government policy think tank Niti Aayog, Defence Research and Development Organisation, the ministries of roads, health, steel, and commerce and industry attended the meeting.