New Delhi: DRDO, like any other crisis over the country, is fighting like the frontline forces as India faces an unprecedented crisis related to the supply of medical oxygen across the length and breadth. In order to tackle the surge in COVID-19 cases and subsequent requirement of oxygen, PM-CARES Fund has allocated funds for the installation of 500 medical Oxygen plants across the country. These plants are planned to be set up within three months. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), through its industries, is setting up five medical Oxygen plants within the first week of May in and around Delhi.
These are to be installed at AIIMS Trauma Centre, Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital (RML), Safdarjung Hospital, Lady Hardinge Medical College and one at AIIMS, Jhajjar, Haryana. As per schedule, two of these plants reached Delhi on May 4 and are being installed at AIIMS and RML Hospitals respectively. These have been supplied by Trident Pneumatics Pvt. Ltd., Coimbatore which is the technology partner of DRDO and has been given an order of 48 plants. Order of 332 plants have been placed with Tata Advanced Systems Limited and the delivery will start from mid-May. The delivery schedule is being monitored very closely to deliver before the plants time. The sites are being prepared at each hospital in parallel.
These medical Oxygen plants are designed for a flow rate of 1,000 litres per minute (LPM). The system can cater to 190 patients at a flow rate of 5 LPM and charge 195 cylinders per day. The Medical Oxygen Plant (MOP) technology has been developed by DRDO based on the On‐Board Oxygen Generation for LCA, Tejas. These plants will overcome the logistics issues of oxygen transportation and help the COVID-19 patients in emergency. CSIR has also ordered 120 MOP plants through its industries.
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