Reliance now produces 1,000 MT of medical-grade liquid oxygen a day, becomes the largest producer

Reliance Industries in its press statement said it is now the largest producer of medical-grade liquid oxygen in the country. It said at its refinery-cum-petrochemical complex at Jamnagar, the company now produces over 1,000 MT of medical-grade liquid oxygen. The statement added that the production will meet the oxygen needs of one in 10 patients, fulfilling 11 percent of the country's oxygen requirements.

The RIL tweaked manufacturing at its oil refineries, based in Gujarat's Jamnagar, to produce over 700 tonnes of medical-grade oxygen a day which is being supplied to states severely hit by COVID-19, news agency PTI reported on April 20.

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Reports have suggested that these supplies are being made to states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh. This large production of liquid oxygen is expected to provide relief to over 70,000 critically ill patients per day. The company plans to raise medical-grade oxygen production capacity to 1,000 tonnes, sources had told PTI, without giving a timeline.

According to reports, in April 2021, Reliance Industries supplied over 15,000 MT of medical-grade liquid oxygen free of cost. The statement said that Chairman Mukesh Ambani is personally supervising the scale-up of production and transportation at Jamnagar.

It also added - “Reliance airlifted 24 ISO containers for transporting oxygen — creating an additional 500 MT of transportation capacity for India. Sincere thanks to ARAMCO, BP and IAF for their help in sourcing and transportation. More ISO containers are being air freighted over the next few days."

In April 2021, Tata Group also announced on Twitter that it is importing cryogenic containers to transport liquid oxygen to ease the shortage in India amidst the country reeling under the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the total number of fatalities crossing two lakh since the start of the pandemic.

Many individuals and organisations are also making efforts to procure medical-grade oxygen cylinders, canisters, concentrators, and generators from across the world.