Covid-19: Oxygen companies to get prompt clearances in Karnataka

As the state reels under an acute shortage of oxygen, Commerce and Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar instructed officials from various departments like transport, commercial tax, and energy to provide immediate clearances for uninhibited movement of oxygen tankers.

Shettar also met oxygen distributors from across the state to address their challenges and difficulties in oxygen production and supply.

“When oxygen is being transported, the RTO (regional transport office) or the district administration should pose no disruption to their movement. We have also held a virtual discussion with the National Highway Authority of India regarding logistics. It has come to our notice that tankers are stopped for collecting toll fee.

The tankers will bear a sticker henceforth with a red cross indicating that it is for Covid medical emergency. They should be allowed in just like ambulances are,” said Shettar.

Currently, the state’s existing 45 oxygen tankers only have a capacity of transporting 484 metric tonnes.

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Now, 33 nitrogen tankers and 16 argon tankers have got permission to carry oxygen in addition to this existing fleet.

The state has also written to the Union Cabinet secretary to increase its allocation from the 300 tonnes out of the 812 tonnes it produces daily.

Shettar said he had instructed officials to provide an immediate power supply for a new plant of Universal Gases.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a medical oxygen plant as a spin-off technology of the ‘On board oxygen generation system’ (OBOGS) of Light Combat Aircraft Tejas.

“We also want the DRDO to set up oxygen plants here in Karnataka within five or six days. They have already started the process in Uttar Pradesh. We have discussed it with them to set it up here as well, as Bengaluru is facing a shortage of oxygen,” he said.

Manjunath Prabhu, Senior Vice President, Jindal Steel Works, told DH, “On an average, we produce 340-350 tonnes of oxygen, on some days this exceeds 400 tonnes. Out of this, 120 tonnes is sent to other states. On days when we produce 300 tonnes, 75-80 tonnes is sent to other states. There is no directive disallowing supply to other states.”

Subramani Govindaswamy, production manager at the Bengaluru-based Bhuruka Gases said that 80% of their production goes for medical purposes as per government requirements and only 20% goes to industries.

There are seven liquid oxygen manufacturing plants: Bhuruka Gases (65 metric tonnes), Praxair, Koppal (65 metric tonnes), Praxair, Ballari (160 metric tonnes), Air Water India (92 metric tonnes), Bellary Oxygen (80 metric tonnes), Universal Air (50 metric tonnes), and JSW Industrial Gases (300 metric tonnes), and 56 distributors in the state.