Reasons behind oxygen shortage

 Medical oxygen is at least 82% pure Oxygen and free from contamination. In contrast atmospheric air we breathe contains various other gases with only 21% oxygen.

 Traditionally, medical oxygen is produced at separation units where atmospheric air is split into the different components through multiple stages of separation and distillation. Another common method is pressure swing adsorption (PSA ).

Oxygen levels in the body can drop drastically in several cases of covid-19.Organs can start to Mal-functions leading to death.

The department for promotion of industry and internal trade DPIIT, it said the demand for medical oxygen has raised reached about 60% of the country's total daily oxygen production estimated at about 7200MT.

last year the government had floated a Rs 200 crore tender for the supply of PSA plants to districts hospitals across 32 States .A year on only 33 of the proposed 162 PSAs have been installed.

The government has prohibited the supply of oxygen to all except 9 industrial sector

The centre also announced last week that a tender will be floated to import 50000 metric ton of medical oxygen.

The distribution system in the country has become the bottleneck on the part of oxygen from factories to hospitals.

lack of cryogenic tankers to facilitate medical oxygen.Railway is rolling out oxygen Express.