HYDERABAD: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy, on Friday, said that the Centre has sanctioned 19 Pressure Swing Adsorption Oxygen Plants to Telangana, out of the 490 oxygen plants that would be set up across the country. He said that these oxygen generation plants would be built using sophisticated technology, which would be used to make Tejas fighter aircraft.
Addressing a press conference from Delhi, Kishan Reddy said that the PSA Oxygen Plants would be built with the technology provided by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). He said that these oxygen plants would produce 1,000 litres of medical oxygen per minute, and can provide oxygen to around 150 to 190 patients.
“By producing medical oxygen locally at hospitals, we can expunge the insecurity with regard to shortage of oxygen and also cut short the transport time and expenditure,” Reddy said. Reiterating that the States can directly call for global tenders for procuring Covid-19 vaccine without the Centre’s intervention, the Minister said that the Union government had given over 71.23 lakh vaccine doses to Telangana and 98.59 lakh vaccines doses to Andhra Pradesh.
Commenting on B Anandaiah’s Ayurvedic medicine for Covid-19 treatment, Kishan Reddy said, “We have received representations seeking distribution of Anandaiah’s Ayurvedic medicine from across the country. But we have limitations. Even if the AYUSH endorses it, we can only give it as a ‘supplementary medicine’. There are Ayurvedic medicines already available for Covid-19, which were introduced by people like Baba Ramdev.”