PM CARES Fund Trust allocates Rs.201.58 crs for 162 medical oxygen plants in govt hospitals

Intended to make government hospitals self sufficient in medical oxygen

The Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund Trust has allocated Rs.201.58 crores for installation of additional 162 dedicated Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) medical oxygen generation plants inside government hospitals in the country.

As per a PMO release, the total project cost includes Rs.137.33 crores towards supply and commissioning of the plants and a management fee of Central Medical Supply Store (CMSS), an autonomous body of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and around Rs.64.25 crores towards Comprehensive Annual Maintenance Contract (CAMC).

A total of 162 plants with total capacity of 154.19 MT are to be installed in government hospitals identified in consultation with 32 States/UTs. The remaining States/UT are yet to submit their PSA requirements.

Uttar Pradesh will have the highest PSA O2 concentrator plants under this scheme (14), followed by Maharashtra (10) and Delhi, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh (eight each).

The plants will be covered by a warranty for the first three years. For the following seven years, the project includes CAMC.

The routine operations and maintenance (O&M) is to be done by the hospitals/States and post the CAMC period, the entire O&M will be borne by the hospitals/States.

Spurred by the scarcity of medical oxygen during the COVID-19 pandemic, the installation of PSA oxygen concentrator plants in government hospitals is intended to further strengthen India’s public health system and enable long term systematic augmentation of medical oxygen availability in a cost effective manner. Adequate and uninterrupted supply of oxygen is an essential pre-requisite for managing moderate and severe cases of COVID -19, in addition to various other medical conditions where this need arises.