The Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund Trust is allocating 201.58 crore rupees for the installation of additional 162 dedicated Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) Medical Oxygen Generation Plants inside public health facilities in the country.

The total project cost includes 137.33 crore rupees towards supply and commissioning of the plants and Management fee of Central Medical Supply Store and around 64.25 crore rupees towards Comprehensive Annual Maintenance Contract.
 

The procurement will be done by the Central Medical Supply Store which is an autonomous body of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
 
A total of 162 plants with a total capacity of 154.19 MT are to be installed in 32 States and UTs. 

 
The Government hospitals where these plants are to be installed have been identified in consultation with the States and UTs concerned.

The plants have a warranty for the first 3 years. For the next 7 years, the project includes a Comprehensive Annual Maintenance Contract.
 
Routine Operations and Maintenance are to be done by the hospitals or States. After the Comprehensive Annual Maintenance Contract period, entire Operations and Maintenance will be borne by the hospitals or States.
 

This mechanism will further strengthen the public health system and enable long term systematic augmentation of medical oxygen availability in a cost-effective manner. Adequate and uninterrupted supply of oxygen is an essential pre-requisite for managing moderate and severe cases of COVID -19, in addition to various other medical conditions where this need arises. Installation of PSA Oxygen Concentrator Plants in public health facilities is an important step to reduce the health facility’s dependence on the system of store and supply and to enable these facilities to have their own oxygen generation capacity.

 
This will not only increase the total oxygen availability pool of the States and UTs but also facilitate providing oxygen support in a timely manner to patients in these public health facilities.