DRDO to set up 10 oxygen plants in UP

Virendra Singh Rawat

Lucknow / Apr 20, 2021

Amid rising demand for oxygen in the second wave of Covid-19, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will support the Uttar Pradesh government in setting up 10 new oxygen plants in the state.

UP is witnessing an acute shortage of oxygen over the past weeks with the ever increasing caseload in hospitals and for private consumption. For example, there has been a nearly 10 fold hike in oxygen demand in the hospitals in Lucknow, which tops the state in terms of fresh Covid cases.

UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath has directed health officials to ensure every hospital has at least 36 hour oxygen backup to deal with any medical emergency.

He also stressed upon ensuring ready availability of Covid related medical supplies, including ventilators, Remdesivir injection etc.

Apart from individual oxygen plants in UP, big organisations and hospitals have oxygen plants for captive use. These include top medical organisations in Lucknow such as King George’s Medical University (KGMU), Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences (RMLIMS) etc.

Before the onset of Covid-19, there were only 23 oxygen plants functioning in the state, which were augmented to 40 to meet the high demand.