Policy for pvt sector to help with O2 plants, storage now greenlit

New Delhi: The Delhi Cabinet in a meeting approved the Medical Oxygen Production Promotion Policy 2021 along with the provision for incentives for medical oxygen production and storage in the Capital.

The policy has been introduced to improve oxygen availability after the city faced tremendous troubles due to scarcity of oxygen while handling the last COVID-19 wave. The aim is to make Delhi self-reliant in the production of medical oxygen to meet any emergency in the future.

The policy encourages increasing the production of oxygen in the city through setting up either new manufacturing enterprises or expanding the production capacity of existing units for uninterrupted oxygen supply to hospitals or nursing homes during the health crisis caused by COVID-19 or otherwise. It also facilitates storage and transportation of Medical Oxygen.

The policy also provides several incentives to the private sector to set up oxygen production plants, storage facilities, and oxygen tankers.

Chief Minister Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a tweet said, "Medical Oxygen Production Promotion Policy 2021 has been approved. It provides several incentives to the private sector to set up oxygen production plants, invest in oxygen tankers, and set up oxygen storage facilities. This will help improve oxygen availability in Delhi, which became a huge bottleneck in handling the last COVID wave."

The objective of the Policy is also to set up Liquid Oxygen (LOX) manufacturing facilities of minimum 50 MT capacity up to a total of 100 MT and set up non-captive oxygen generation plants (PSA/Air Separation Unit technology) of minimum 10 MT and maximum 50 MT capacity up to a total of 100 MT.

The Policy also encourages setting up of Captive oxygen generation plants (PSA/Air Separation Unit technology) of minimum 500 LPM capacity at hospitals and nursing homes to cater to the peak demand for medical oxygen up to a total capacity of 200 MT.

Apart from that, cryogenic tankers of minimum carrying capacity of 10 MT for the exclusive purpose of ferrying Liquid Medical Oxygen up to a total capacity of 500 MT will also be set up along with LMO storage tanks of minimum 10 MT capacity up to a total capacity of 1000 MT.

Power Subsidy will be made available to Liquid Oxygen Generation Plants and non-captive Oxygen Generation Plants (PSA/ASU) at Rs 4 per unit consumed in the manufacturing process for the first five years from the date of commencement of commercial production, the government said in a statement.

The Delhi government will also fully reimbursement gross SGST that will be made to Liquid Oxygen Generation Plants and non-captive Oxygen Generation Plants (PSA/ASU) within a month of Commissioning of the plant. Applications for a grant of subsidy or incentive will be invited within 15 days from the date of notification of the policy.