Reliance’s Jamnagar refineries initially produced 100 tonnes of medical-grade oxygen every day, which now has drastically increased up to over 700 tonnes to keep up with the demand.
Reliance Industries Ltd has increased manufacturing at its Jamnagar oil refineries to produce over 700 tonnes of medical-grade oxygen each day, which is now being freely supplied to states that have seen the worst of COVID-19, sources said.
It is estimated that over 70,000 critically ill COVID-19 patients will be benefited from this every day. Initially, supplies are being sent to states Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. Once the company reaches the medical-grade oxygen production capacity of 1000 tonnes, more people will have access to it.
Dhanraj Nathwani, Vice President of Gujarat Cricket Association posted a tweet on Tuesday that read: “400 tons of #oxygen is being supplied to #Gujarat by the Reliance Jamnagar, on a daily basis. This shows our commitment for Gujarat.”
Jamnagar refinery was originally a crude oil refinery, processing crude oil into petrol, diesel and fuel. But to meet the demand for medical-grade oxygen due to the rapid increase in Coronavirus cases lately, Reliance Industries has set up the required equipment to start the production of medical-grade oxygen from industrial oxygen according to the sources.
“Nearly 700 tonnes of oxygen is being supplied to states across India every day. This will provide relief to over 70,000 critically ill patients daily,” one of the sources claimed.
The process of supplying oxygen, which includes production and transportation in special vehicles at the optimum temperatures of minus 183 degrees Celsius, is delivered at zero cost to the mentioned state governments as a part of the company’s CSR(Corporate Social Responsibility) initiative of the year 2021.
Earlier in 2020, the company has pledged to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic by providing medical and health care assistance to medical facilities using the Jio platform and fuel to all emergency vehicles.
As a part of the relief programs, Reliance Foundation set up the country’s first hospital exclusively to treat COVID-19, in Mumbai in collaboration with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). This 100-bed hospital was set up within a span of two weeks, which was soon updated with 250 beds.
Reliance Industries also funded to build an isolation facility in Lodhivali, Maharashtra. Besides, setting up a quarantine ward at Spandan Holistic Mother-And-Child Care Hospital in Mumbai for patients with symptoms.
Reliance produced over 1,00,000 PPE and face masks each day for India’s health care and frontline workers. To help the emergency services continue without any interruptions during the lockdown last year and it has provided more than 5.5 lakh liters of free fuel, aiding over 14,000 ambulances across 249 districts in 18 states.
Reliance Life Sciences is providing test kits for efficient and rapid COVID-19 testing, which is helping to enhance India’s testing capacity every day.
To support under-resourced communities during the lockdown, Reliance Foundation started “Mission Anna Seva” one of India’s largest meal distribution programme.
Reliance Industries, Jio, Reliance Life Sciences and Reliance foundation have altogether funded vaccine research, clinical trials and have distributed Masks and PPE kits for healthcare workers all over the country.
Other refineries producing medical-grade oxygen
State-owned companies and refineries like Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) too have stated oxygen production at their refineries to supplement the availability of medical-grade oxygen in states worst affected by COVID-19.
A spokesperson from IOC on Monday said they have “begun the supply of 150 tonnes free of cost medical-grade oxygen to various health care centres in Delhi, Haryana and Punjab.” In a separate instance, BPCL said it has started supplying of 100 tonnes of oxygen at zero cost.
Oil refineries are equipped to produce limited volumes of industrial oxygen in air-separation plants that are usually used for nitrogen production. By removing other gases such as carbon dioxide, it can be converted into medical-grade oxygen of 99.9 % purity.
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