BIG STEP! Maruti Suzuki to shut factories in Haryana, Gujarat to make oxygen for medical needs

Amid a sharp spike in Covid cases and high demand for Oxygen in hospitals, automobile major Maruti Suzuki India on Wednesday announced that it is closing its factories in Haryana in order to make oxygen available for medical needs. The company has been informed that Suzuki Motor Gujarat has taken the same decision for its factory.

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As part of the car manufacturing process, Maruti Suzuki uses a small amount of oxygen in its factories while relatively much larger quantities are used by the manufacturers of components.  

"In the current situation, we believe that all available oxygen should be used to save lives.  Accordingly, Maruti Suzuki has decided to advance its maintenance shutdown, originally scheduled for June, to 1st to 9th May. Production in all factories will close for maintenance during this period," the company said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday sanctioned the procurement of one lakh portable oxygen concentrators from the PM Cares Fund, the IANS reported.

The decision was taken at a high-level meeting, chaired by the Prime Minister, to discuss the measures needed to improve liquid medical oxygen (LMO) supply for Covid management. He instructed that these oxygen concentrators should be procured at the earliest and provided in states with a high case burden.

In addition to the earlier sanctioned 713 Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) plants under PM Cares Fund, 500 new PSA plants have been sanctioned. The PSA plants will augment the supply of liquid medical oxygen at hospitals in district headquarters and Tier 2 cities. These 500 PSA plants will be established with transfer of the indigenous technology developed by the DRDO and the 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, an official statement said.