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New Delhi: To help the country tide over oxygen shortage during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, ONGC has been given the responsibility to procure 1 lakh oxygen concentrators based on its understanding of global supply chain and logistics by the Centre. The cost of procuring these concentrators will be borne by the government, said ONGC in an official statement on Monday. Within a short period, ONGC has placed orders for 34,673 Oxygen concentrators on overseas vendors for immediate supply. Out of these, 2,900 are expected to be received by May 21 and the rest are expected to arrive in a staggered way between May to June-end. Further, to promote domestic capacity, ONGC has also placed orders for 40,000 units of Oxygen Concentrators on domestic manufacturers.
"As a responsible corporate citizen, energy Maharatna Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) has picked up an exclusive gauntlet of responsibility to support the communities to tide over the current Covid-19 crisis, while maintaining its prime responsibility of oil and gas production, braving the odds thrown up by the unprecedented pandemic," said ONGC.
In addition, medical grade oxygen generation plants are also being set up with ONGC support in 10 government hospitals in three states of India. This is part of the huge initiative of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas by which total 93 such oxygen plants are being set up by various Oil PSUs across the country.
Continuing its fight against COVID, ONGC has been an active part of the nation-wide vaccination drive promoting the vaccination efforts through regular social media posts. ONGC is also organising vaccination camps at various work locations across the country for employees and secondary workforce. To ensure that vaccination reaches to the people of the country, ONGC has also supported COVID vaccine logistics supply chain equipment in Tripura, Nagaland, Gujarat and Uttarakhand.
"The Maharatna and its Energy Soldiers have been on the forefront of combating the pandemic since its onset in March 2020. Amidst restrictions to contain the spread of the novel Corona virus, ONGCians have maintained production of oil and gas to ensure the nation's energy supply. While continuing oil-field operations, ONGCians ensured adhering to all COVID-related SOPs and guidelines. The Energy Soldiers of ONGC worked extended operational shifts (in offshore and remote onshore oil-field locations) of up to 60 days at a stretch on their own volition (in place of the usual 14/21 days on/off duty pattern) to sustain production during the period when the crew changeover process was hampered for the nation-wide lockdown. ONGC organized chartered flights and in-house end-to-end sanitized transportation for its crew change in a unique Operation NISHTHA. In spite of challenges posed due to second wave of COVID, ONGC is able to maintain its production levels with minimal effect on operations," said the statement.
Throughout the pandemic, ONGC ensured constant support for its employees and their family members by extending complete medical support to its employees and their families. All pandemic related information, orders, circulars, 24×7 helpline numbers were made available on the internal portal, it added. ONGC has also tremendously increased its procurement from GeM portal to encourage 'Make in India' during this crisis period. ONGC has also been extensively vocal on COVID-prevention, vaccination drive etc. on social networking platforms, by regularly posting and circulating informational and educational creative and videos, the statement added.
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