The Centre has agreed to supply 50 tonnes of oxygen per day to Madhya Pradesh, taking the oxygen availability to 180 tonne, which was facing oxygen shortage amid a rise in COVID-19 cases, state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said.
"On my request, the Government of India today has agreed to supply 50 tonne oxygen a day, taking our oxygen availability to 180 tonne a day," Chouhan tweeted on Saturday night.
He also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union minister Piyush Goyal for their support to the state during this difficult time of COVID-19 outbreak.
The Centre's help came after the supply of oxygen to Madhya Pradesh from a Maharashtra-based facility was halted.
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Earlier, a company called INOX used to supply oxygen to Madhya Pradesh from its Nagpur-based plant, Chouhan told.
Chouhan had said he spoke to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray about the shortage of oxygen cylinders and the latter assured him of maintaining the supply to the state.
In the wake of a rise in respiratory disease cases, Madhya Pradesh needs 110 tonnes of oxygen per day, a release from the state public relations department said.
Chouhan has also asked oxygen plants in Madhya Pradesh to increase their production to the full capacity from the present
50 to 60 per cent.
"As part of our long-term planning, we have given a green light to INOX to set up an oxygen plant with an installed capacity of 200 tonnes in Mohasa near Babai in Hoshangabad in the next six months," he added.
