The government on Thursday said it would import 50,000 metric tonnes of medical oxygen to assure supplies to states even as it added that oxygen availability in the country was adequate. A tender will be floated to import 50,000 MT of medical oxygen, while its sources and production capacity has been mapped to match the requirement of 12-high burden states, the Centre said on Thursday.

As hospitals reeled under oxygen shortages, the empowered group of officers addressing the issue met today and started mapping of oxygen sources for 12 high burden states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.

The Union Health Ministry has been directed to finalize the tender for the same and also explore possible sources for import identified by the missions of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), it said.

Medical oxygen is a critical component in the treatment of COVID-affected patients and demands have been rising unusually in the high burden states.

“There has been increasing demand for medical oxygen, especially from the 12 states with a high burden of active COVID cases. While the demand in Maharashtra is expected to be beyond the available production capacity of the state, Madhya Pradesh does not have any production capacity to meet their demand for medical oxygen. There is also a trend of increasing demand in other oxygen-producing states such as Gujarat, Karnataka and Rajasthan,” the government said.

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