Steel, oil cos become lifeline with ramped up oxygen supplies for Covid relief

Steel and oil companies have emerged as the oxygen lifeline for the country gasping for breath in the ongoing second wave of Covid-19.

Companies such as IndianOil, BPCL, SAIL, Vedanta, JSPL, Tata Steel have all been diverting large portions of industrial oxygen they produce for manufacturing for Covid relief. In fact, a few companies have cut down their routine production to make available additional oxygen for medical use across the country.

The support of these two sectors is crucial for Covid relief measures as they account for more than 60 per cent of the country's 7,000 MT of oxygen production per day.

The role of two steel PSUs - SAIL and RINL in this direction has been significant. SAIL has already supplied 36,747 metric tonnes (MT) of Liquid Medical Oxygen since August last year. The company has also reduced the production of gaseous Oxygen, Nitrogen and Argon besides optimizing process parameters in its plants to boost production of LMO.

"During this hour of emergency need, SAIL firmly stands committed with the nation and will do everything to augment the production of Liquid Medical Oxygen from its plants. All its plants have been advised to maximise production of LMO and optimize dispatch logistics so as to reduce the turnaround time of oxygen tankers," the company reaffirmed.

With the help of Indian Railways and the Ministry of Steel, SAIL has also planned to load a rake from its Bokaro, Durgapur steel plants. This will help greatly in bulk evacuation of LMO and faster arrival of the same at the destination.