RIL In Talks With VRV Asia Pacific To Buy Tankers For Liquid Medical Oxygen

As India’s health infrastructure gasps for oxygen, Reliance Industries is in talks with VRV Asia Pacific, a Chart Group company and a few others to purchase tankers used for transporting Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO), said a top official at VRV.

India is struggling with a second wave of the pandemic with more than 300,000 daily new coronavirus cases being reported in the past few days, and hospitals in several states are reeling under a shortage of medical oxygen and beds.

Reliance is likely to get tankers that can hold and transport up to 40,000 liters of liquid oxygen at the large makeshift Covid facilities and hospitals. It is also exploring ways with VRV to have smaller tanks installed, GL Rangnekar, Managing Director, VRV. VRV designs and manufactures cryogenic equipment at its unit at Sri City, Andhra Pradesh. It is one of the three companies in the country that make cryogenic storage tanks and rigid tankers and trailers.

A spokesperson at RIL declined to comment. A person privy to the development confirmed the company has been in talks to set up on-site storage but nothing has been finalised.

“We have been in talks with RIL. They will be picking up big stationary tanks for LMO storage and trailers for transportation. We have shared the relevant details with them. They are likely to commission them at large Covid care facilities that have hundreds of patients in need of oxygen,” said Rangnekar.

The oil-to-yarn conglomerate may source very large tanks and tankers. Typically, it takes little over a month to commission these tanks at a site. Therefore, to expedite supplies it’s also in discussion with VRV for small portable tanks made by Chart in the USA of 200 liters capacity which are easy to commission at Covid facilities.

Oxygen moves through tankers to big hospitals where it is put in storage created for the purpose. Smaller hospitals or nursing homes get their supply in cylinders which are also in short supply. The number of cylinders and tankers required should ideally be double that of oxygen demand because empty ones go for refilling. This situation can be avoided if hospitals themselves host small oxygen plants.

Meanwhile, the Chart group company that also makes cryogenic cylinders, LMO tankers for trailers also in touch with IOCL and supporting many hospitals is augmenting capacities amid the severe shortage of LMO facing the hospitals and Covid care facilities.

It’s making 100 to 150 cryogenic cylinders per month and also has some stock. “We are working 24 hours. Last 10 days we have supplied 100-150 cylinders to various hospitals,” he said. It is ramping up the capacity and also importing the same from Chart’s US facilities. There are 200 to 250 of them in the pipeline for imports. If necessary, we are open to import by air from the USA “Our parent company is committed to India,” said Rangnekar.

As many as 551 dedicated pressure swing Adsorption (PSA) medical oxygen generation plants will be set up inside public health facilities across the country to boost availability of the life-saving gas amid its shortage in several states battling the COVID-19 surge, the PTI reported on Sunday. The PMO said on Sunday that the PM Cares Fund has given in-principle approval for allocation of funds for their installation, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi directing these plants should be made functional as soon as possible.

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