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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sanctioned the procurement of one lakh portable oxygen concentrators from the PM Cares Fund.

The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the measures needed to improve Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) supply for COVID management.

A statement from the government said that PM instructed that these Oxygen Concentrators should be procured at the earliest and provided in states with high case burden.

In addition to the earlier sanctioned 713 PSA plants under PM Cares Fund, 500 new Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen plants have been sanctioned under PM CARES Fund.

The PSA plants will augment the supply of Liquid Medical Oxygen at hospitals in district headquarters and Tier-II cities. These 500 PSA plants will be established with the transfer of the indigenous technology developed by DRDO and CSIR to the domestic manufacturers.

Establishing PSA plants and procurement of portable oxygen concentrators will greatly augment the supply of oxygen near the demand clusters, thereby addressing the current logistical challenges in transporting oxygen from plants to hospitals, the statement from the government.

The country which is reeling under the severe second wave of COVID-19 pandemic has witnessed a severe shortage of oxygen with many healthcare facilities shortage.

To combat the shortage of oxygen, both the government and private enterprises have come forward to increase the supply of oxygen. This has witnessed many plants increasing the production of medical supplies.

At the same time, the startup ecosystem has started to make its contribution to increasing the availability of oxygen in the country.  Fintech unicorn CRED is working with Milaap to procure and distribute oxygen concentrators and asked its users to donate their loyalty points called CRED coins.

“For every 10,000 CRED coins our members redeem, we will distribute 1,000 litres of oxygen via these concentrators,” the company said in a blog post.

Paytm has announced a fundraising campaign to fight the shortage of oxygen through its philanthropic venture Paytm Foundation, which is raising Rs 10 crore to donate oxygen concentrators across the country.