- BPCL, Prodair pledged free medical oxygen to Ernakulam hospitals on Monday
- Predator Air Prodair would be continuing the supply to district government hospitals for 2 months.
- The demand for liquid oxygen has increased multifold during the pandemic.
THD NewsDesk, Kerala: In light of the public health emergency posed by the Covid pandemic, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), along with its business partner Prodair Air Products, pledged to contribute free of cost medical oxygen to Ernakulam government hospitals. Ernakulam district collector S Suhas successfully waved off the first dispatch of liquid oxygen on October 12.
Bharat Petroleum’s Kochi refinery took this commendable initiative to meet the increasing shortage of liquid oxygen at government hospitals. BPCL-KR’s Build-Own-Operate unit, managed by Prodair Air Products India Pvt. Ltd., guaranteed its capacity to produce and store liquid oxygen of 99.7 percent purity.
“Considering the urgency of the situation prevailing in the state due to the unprecedented spurt in COVID-19 cases and medical Oxygen shortage, BPCL and AP explored and established the possibility of producing 10 tons/week of Liquid Oxygen which will meet medical grade oxygen specifications,” BPCL said in a statement.
“Expected quantity to be supplied through this is approximately 90 tonnes. This supply shall be free of cost under the CSR /CER initiative of BPCL & Prodair Air Products”.
Thus, Prodair has ensured a two-month supply of medical-grade oxygen to Ernakulam Government Medical College, Ernakulam General Hospital, and PVS-Government Covid Apex Center.
Earlier, Kerala’s government authorities had expressed concerns over the limited stock of medical oxygen at public hospitals since the outbreak of coronavirus clutched the nation. Reflecting on the multifold upswing in demand, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had beseeched refineries to develop medical grade oxygen with the existing facilities. In response, several other government agencies like the Centre for High Technology (CHT), Factories & Boilers, PESO have also confirmed their support for BPCL’s initiative.
