Odisha government bid to ramp up production of medical oxygen, cylinders

BHUBANESWAR: Manufacturing and refilling of medical oxygen and its containers will now be included in the priority list of Odisha Industrial Policy Resolution (IPR)-2015.
The state government will now incentivise production of medical oxygen in the state and offer various benefits to those manufacturing medical oxygen and its containers in Odisha. The move is part of the state’s preparedness to fight Covid-19.A proposal regarding amendment in the IPR-2015 was approved by the state cabinet headed by chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday.
State industries secretary Hemant Sharma said three categories of units can avail benefits because of the amendment in the IPR-2015. These include manufactures of medical oxygen, manufacturers of oxygen cylinders and related equipment like valve and regulator and oxygen cylinder refilling units.
“The incentives include land at concessional rate, stamp duty exemption on land and other transactions, SGST reimbursement up to 200% on capital investment and electricity duty exemption for a certain period,” Sharma said.
“There will be additional benefits for plants coming up in 11 industrially-backward districts like Kalahandi, Nuapada, Balangir, Sonepur, Koraput, Malkangiri, Rayagada, Nabarangpur, Kandhamal, Gajapati and Mayurbhanj,” the industries secretary added.
The incentives are provided to attract more and more manufactures to set up their units in the state. Official notification regarding amendment in the IPR-2015 to promote manufacturing and refilling of medical oxygen and its containers will be issued in a day or two following which the industries department will start receiving applications from interested manufacturers.
Sources said medical oxygen manufacturing unit and refilling unit can be set up in 12 to 14 weeks with investment of Rs 70-80 lakh per unit, though establishment of oxygen cylinder manufacturing unit may take some time. At present, there is no oxygen cylinder manufacturing unit in Odisha, said an official source.
State government sources said though oxygen stock is available in the state, there is a need to increase availability of cylinders. Sources said the state has around 27,000 oxygen cylinders while it has issued purchase orders for 18,000 more and sought 20,000 B-type oxygen cylinders and 10,000 jumbo cylinders from the Centre to strengthen the fight against the virus.
To maintain adequate stock of medical oxygen cylinders in view of increasing number of positive cases, the state health department has already announced plan to hire empty medical oxygen cylinders from private organizations. Besides, instructions have been issued to convert all industrial oxygen cylinders available with various industrial houses for medical purpose.
The state government has also urged various industrial houses based in Odisha to arrange equipment like oxygen concentrators and medical oxygen cylinders under corporate social responsibility (CSR) for managing the pandemic in the state.