Punjab govt working to revive 12 private O2 plants to meet demand

THESE PLANTS LOCATED IN MANDI GOBINDGARH, PATHANKOT, MUKTSAR, BATHINDA, LUDHIANA AND FATEHGARH SAHIB HAVE AN INSTALLED CAPACITY OF MORE THAN 20 METRIC TONNES

CHANDIGARH: Battling with rising oxygen demand due to the devastating second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, Punjab is making efforts to revive and re-energise about a dozen small and medium oxygen plants to augment the supply of life-saving gas in the state.

These plants located in Mandi Gobindgarh, Pathankot, Muktsar, Bathinda, Ludhiana and Fatehgarh Sahib and having an installed capacity of more than 20 metric tonnes have been lying defunct or manufacturing oxygen for industrial or captive use. The state authorities, particularly the industries department, are trying for their revival and expediting medical oxygen licenses to units producing industrial oxygen.

Director-cum-secretary, industries, Sibin C said the department had identified a dozen-odd such plants for revival and re-energisation of their oxygen plants and facilitating grant of licenses for medical oxygen supply to try and meet the rising demand.

Punjab, which is seeing a sharp spike in oxygen demand due to the rising trajectory of Covid cases and panic buying, presently requires 200 to 210 metric tonnes of medical oxygen daily on an average. The state has been managing so far with almost 70% of its supplies coming from the quota allocated by the central government and the remaining from oxygen generation units in the state barring an occasional hiccup, according to sources.

The oxygen demand is expected to jump by 50 to 100 metric tonnes in a week or so, according to official projections.

Sibin said two units in Pathankot and Mandi Gobindgarh started supplying 550 oxygen cylinders to hospitals on Thursday. Another four units are expected to start the supply of medical oxygen cylinders to hospitals across the state within a week. T

The air separation unit (ASU) of Green Field Industries Private Limited in Muktsar, which was set up in 1996 and has been lying idle for the past eight years, is being renovated at a cost of Rs 20 lakh and will resume its operations in a week’s time and start supplying 400 oxygen cylinders per day.

Company owner Rajvir Singh said he had shut the ASU after a jump in power tariffs in the state and started oxygen refilling by procuring liquid oxygen from Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

“The administration and a company, Setia Paper Limited, have come forward to help renovate the plant,” Rajvir Singh said.

Ramesh Chander of Ajay Gases in Mandi Gobindgarh, which supplies industrial oxygen, is expecting the license for manufacturing medical oxygen from the Food and Drug Administration anytime.

“We have been supplying 500 medical oxygen cylinders for the past three days, pending license for medical oxygen. There is a separate unit with capacity to refill 1,200 cylinders per day, but we are not getting liquid oxygen despite efforts,” he said.

Also, Ludhiana-based Aarti Steel is exploring the option of setting up a five tonne per day pressure swing adsorption (PSA) oxygen generating plant whereas Modern Steel, Fatehgarh Sahib, has started the process to install a compressor at its pressure swing adsorption for filling cylinders, according to government sources.

However, two plants in Amritsar and Bathinda have not been found to be feasible as they have been lying closed for the past five years.

The chief minister’s office (CMO) is monitoring the progress. Industries and commerce minister Sunder Sham Arora had also on Thursday directed the officials to expedite the licensing process for closed oxygen plants.

BATHINDA REFINERY TO SUPPLY O2

HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited (HMEL), which has an installed oxygen capacity of 35 metric tonnes per day, is getting ready to supply oxygen. The company has placed an order with a Noida-based firm for installation of compressor at the outlet of pressure swing adsorption for filling oxygen cylinders. The compressor will be sourced from Italy and the installation work is expected to be completed by May-end, according to sources.