No need to panic, India has enough O2 stock: MHA

New Delhi: India has enough stock of medical oxygen but the issue is its transportation from the producing states to high-demand areas which the government is trying to address, the Union Home ministry said on Monday.

Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs Piyush Goyal also said the turnaround time of oxygen-carrying tankers was reduced to 1-2 hours from 4-5 days by taking the help of the Indian Air Force transport aircraft which have been ferrying empty tankers.

"We have enough stock of oxygen. The issue is transportation which we are trying to resolve by active involvement of all stakeholders," Goyal told a press conference here.

Amidst the increasing demand for oxygen in the country due to the surging Coronavirus cases, he said: "There is absolutely no need to panic for oxygen as we are trying to resolve the issue of oxygen transportation from the producing states to high demand areas."

He also said the Central government is monitoring the movement of oxygen-carrying tankers on a real-time basis through GPS and making them available to hospitals in the shortest possible time.

Since Friday, the Home ministry has been coordinating efforts to deploy empty oxygen tankers and containers in various filling stations across the country to speed up the distribution of the much-needed medical oxygen in treating COVID-19 patients.

The Coronavirus situation continues to be grim in India with 3,52,991 people testing positive and a record 2,812 deaths reported on Monday.

Meanwhile, two containers for transportation of oxygen are being brought from Dubai, amid increasing demand for medical oxygen in the country, the Home ministry said on Monday.

Earlier, four cryogenic tanks for transportation of oxygen were brought from Singapore on Saturday.

"IAF C-17 aircraft reached Dubai today to airlift more empty O2 containers to supplement efforts to enhance oxygen availability in current COVID-19 surge. Effort is being coordinated by MHA," a Home ministry spokesperson tweeted.