Steel plants supply 4,686 MT of Liquid Medical Oxygen

Total production of Liquid Medical Oxygen in the country has risen to almost 9,500 MT/day, increasing the capacity utilization by about 130% of the installed capacity

Steel plants across India have supplied 4,686 MT of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) to states and hospitals pan-India as on 10th May, 2021. 

This includes 1,193 MT by SAIL; 180 MT by RINL; 1,425 MT by TATA group; 1,300 by JSW, and the rest by other steel companies in the public and private sector. The total production of Liquid Medical Oxygen in the country has risen to almost 9,500 MT/day, increasing the capacity utilization by about 130% of the installed capacity. Steel plants are contributing nearly half of the national production of LMO.

Steel plants have been able to enhance the supply of LMO by taking various initiatives, which include reduction in the production of Nitrogen and Argon and only producing LMO in most plants. They are normally required to keep 3.5 days of safety stock of LMO in their storage tanks which are vaporized and used in some cases in the oxygen plants. Through continuous engagement with the steel producers by the Ministry of Steel, the safety stock has been reduced to 0.5 days because of which LMO supply had significantly increased. 

Hospitals are also being set up by Steel Plants with 8,100 beds (AMNS - Hazira; JSW - Dolvi & Vijayanagar; Jindal – Hisar; HZL – Udaipur; SAIL – Rourkela, Bhilai, Bokaro, Durgapur, Burnpur; RINL – Vizag; and TATA – Kalinganagar, JSR, Angul in the vicinity of plants with gaseous oxygen.