Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has virtually laid the foundation stone of the country's first-ever liquefied oxygen plant, which is being set up at Simarhawa of Rupandehi district. the construction of the country's first liquid oxygen plant which is expected to help substitute oxygen import from India.

"As they will be insufficient at the time of a pandemic, the liquid oxygen plant will be important in meeting the deficit in oxygen supplies," Oli said during the virtual inauguration ceremony on Sunday.

During the second wave of COVID-19, we faced huge shortage of oxygen and cylinders," he said, adding that the government was compelled to import oxygen and other health essentials. "Later, the government thought that it would be prudent to set up an oxygen plant on its own," he said.

Shankar Oxygen Gas Pvt. Ltd, the sole importer of liquid oxygen in Nepal, is setting up its own liquid oxygen plant in the southwestern city of Bhairahawa, reports Xinhua news agency.

Covering an area of 3,716 square metres, the plant will have a production capacity of 60 tons per day, according to the company. The excess production could be exported to neighbouring countries and used in the industrial sector once the Covid-19 pandemic is over, said Oli.

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