Reliance Industries Limited(RIL) has rallied its resources to become India’s largest producer of medical-grade liquid oxygen. It now produces over 11 per cent of India’s total production of medical oxygen, meeting the needs of nearly every 1 in 10 patients, the company said.
The organisation has diverted its resources to quickly ramp up the production of medicinal oxygen from 0 to 1000 MT per day free of charge. According to RIL, it is catering to the needs of over 1 lakh people every day on an average with its production capacity of 1000 MT daily.
Earlier this month, Reliance had started to send oxygen to Maharashtra free of cost from its Gujarat refinery. Maharashtra was then facing an acute shortage of oxygen because of the rising number of COVID-19 cases. The company was diverting some oxygen meant for its petroleum coke gasification units after making it suitable for medical use.
At first, the company had started with 100 MT oxygen per day which was sent to Maharashtra. After a week it was increased to 700 MT per day, which was also sent to other states like Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. And now that capacity of medical oxygen production has been increased to 1000 MT per day.
RIL ramps up production of Medical Grade Liquid Oxygen from near zero to 1000 MT per day free of charge. 1000 MT of oxygen to meet the needs of over 1 lakh people everyday on an average: Reliance Industries Limited
— ANI (@ANI) May 1, 2021
“Chairman Mukesh Ambani personally supervising scale-up of production and transportation at Jamnagar. In April 2021, Reliance supplied over 15,000 MT of Medical Grade Liquid Oxygen, free of cost – helping nearly 15 lakh patients,” Reliance Industries Limited said.
It may be noted that Reliance Industries is not a traditional oxygen-producing company. It has oxygen plants in its Jamnagar refinery for its own internal use. But now those plants have been retrofitted to produce 1000 MT of medical oxygen daily. Moreover, this entire quantity of oxygen is produced at a single location.
The company also said that it has airlifted 24 ISO containers for transporting Oxygen, creating an additional 500 MT of transportation capacity for India. Reliance Industries also thanked its partners, ARAMCO, BP and IAF, for extending logistical and sourcing support to procure the containers. In addition to this, the conglomerate has said that more ISO tank containers will be airlifted in the next few days.
ISO tank containers are liquid and gas tanks fitted inside a frame built to the specification of international containers. These are intermodal tank containers that can be transported on container ships, trains and trucks.
Reliance airlifted 24 ISO containers for transporting Oxygen – creating an additional 500 MT of transportation capacity for India. Since thanks to ARAMCO, BP and IAF for their help in sourcing & transportation. More ISO containers being airfreighted over the next few days: RIL
— ANI (@ANI) May 1, 2021
Reliance Foundation building a 1,000-bed hospital facility in Gujarat’s Jamnagar
Besides, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) will also set up a 1,000-bed hospital with an oxygen supply facility in Gujarat’s Jamnagar.
Of the total 1,000 beds, 400 will be made operational by the next Sunday, a statement released by the Gujarat government said. The company will also employ its strength to add remaining 600 beds in a week’s time.
