Uttam Group of Companies, a multinational industry leader in energy and healthcare, in association with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has set up three new oxygen plants in Meghalaya.
The oxygen generation plats were set up at civil hospitals in Tura, Nongpoh and Jowai.
All this while, the civil hospitals were dependent on oxygen supply from external sources and logistics management was a challenge. With the setting up of the three new oxygen generation plants, the hospitals are now self-reliant which will further ease oxygen shortage faced by the hospitals during the pandemic.
“It’s a step closer to the preparation for the widely anticipated third wave of the pandemic warned by health authorities. Uttam Group has been working closely with UNDP for timely installation of these plants and will continue to maintain them,” a statement from the company said.
Shoko Noda, resident representative, mentioned about the integrated COVID-19 response of UNDP and Uttam Group. “The prediction of a third wave has already raised a red flag for the country and in response to the unprecedented situation, Uttam Group has already installed 50 plus plants in India and further planned to set up more oxygen generation plants in different cities to ease the oxygen crisis,” Noda said.
The oxygen plants were recently inaugurated by Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma in presence of Satoshi Suzuki, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Japan to India; Ram Singh, deputy and John Borgoyary, regional head, UNDP.
Giving information on the installation of the oxygen generating plants in Meghalaya, Uttam Group said that one of the challenges was to reach out to the interior areas of the state with the engineering and logistics teams. The oxygen plants installed in Tura has the production capacity of 1.1 ton per day.
Manish Pant, head health & governance at UNDP said: “Installing oxygen generation plant is a crucial project, as we should be better prepared for the third wave of the pandemic. Beyond COVID-19, the plants will continue to serve Meghalaya and the Northeast as a whole. We are thankful to the government of Japan for showing interest in Meghalaya and helping us build these oxygen plants that will serve as a ray of hope to the people of Meghalaya.”
Speaking on the inaugural event, CM Conrad Sangma said: “I thank UNDP, the Japanese government and his excellency for their contribution and support for Meghalaya has received in this crisis. The Indian government has always shown a desire to work with Japan and at this difficult time, we are finding innovative ways to help each other. The healthcare scenario in India is very challenging due to COVID-19 but with mutual effort, we can face the situation strongly.”
Karan Bhatia, CEO, Uttam Group, said: “I am thankful for the support that Uttam Group of companies has received from the Indian authorities and international agencies. The hospital infrastructure in India is majorly dependent on external sources for oxygen supply and there is an urgent need for in-house oxygen generation units in hospitals. These three plants will make the hospitals self-reliant for their oxygen requirement during the current health crisis.”
