Medical oxygen: Himachal govt to grant licences two more manufacturers

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, April 27

Keeping in view the rising requirement of medical oxygen, the state health department will soon grant licence to two more manufacturers — Mata Balasundari Gases at Kala Amb and Shiwalik at Barotiwala.

Secretary health, Amitabh Awasthy, who convened a meeting with the oxygen manufacturers, State Drugs Controller Navneet Marwaha, Nalagarh SDM Mahinder Pal, CMO and deputy director Industries at Baddi, today informed that requisite NOCs have been sought by the two units from other departments and they will soon be given licence by the health department.

The total number of oxygen manufacturers in the state will rise to 12 with new additions.

Oxygen manufacturers were also urged not to divert oxygen to industrial units, like steel units, in view of its growing need in the pandemic. While the state has adequate oxygen availability to cater to its hospitals, a roadmap was also drawn to meet the future exigencies. “The state’s usage of oxygen was 22 metric tonne (MT) while the production capacity was 35 to 38 MT. But keeping in view the rising requirement in view of surging Covid cases, the government was ensuring that there would be no shortage of oxygen in the coming days,” Awasthy said.

“Oxygen requirement would surge with the rising bed strength and it will be regularly reviewed to ensure presence of adequate oxygen to all the patients,” added the secretary.

The issue of lack of empty cylinders availability vis-à-vis demand was raised by the manufacturers as it was hampering availability of oxygen to various states. The officials assured them of taking up the issue at the appropriate level.

In a bid to facilitate the industry, the secretary health also gave a patient hearing to other issues raised by the manufacturers and assured their speedy redress. The manufacturers were also directed to ensure prompt availability of oxygen in view of the pandemic.