The shortage of medical oxygen was experienced across the country during the second wave of COVID -19. Also, as the pandemic was raging with newer variants emerging with greater frequency, the demand for medical oxygen had increased exponentially. To overcome this critical challenge, the Government of India has put together a plan to create buffer capacity for medical oxygen at hospital, state and regional levels, across the country. Under this plan, about 550 medical oxygen plants are required to be installed in a specified timeframe. This large requirement has been distributed amongst several reputed manufacturers. Certain number of plants have been assigned to DRDO to be manufactured according to the technology developed by Defense, Bioengineering and electromechanical laboratory (DEBEL), an arm of DRDO. This technology has been transferred by DRDO to 10 private sector companies including Godrej Precision Engineering (GPE). This technology provides the ease of generating and storing oxygen from air, using Sodium Zeolite molecular sieves. This plant will be able to generate, store and supply medical oxygen on demand. For emergency use, hospitals need not depend on any external source such as high-pressure oxygen cylinders. “Throughout our history, Godrej & Boyce has contributed to India’s journey of self-reliance by combining cutting-edge engineering prowess with decades of precision expertise. With this new Medical Oxygen Generating system, we hope to assist India in gaining a lasting advantage in the fight against Covid” - Nyrika Holkar, Executive Director, G&B

“We are honored by the trust reposed by DRDO in us for over three decades for the manufacture of critical systems and precision machines. At Godrej Precision Engineering, we have established our manufacturing processes, supply chain and infrastructure so that the production of such a critical element of India’s medical infrastructure can be scaled up quickly.” - Sushil Agarkar, Business Head, GPE In this hour of need, team GPE rose to this daunting challenge of producing the first batch of Medical Oxygen Generators, from drawing board to manufacture and dispatch to remote rural hospitals across Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh, just in a month! This is a step forward in realizing the dream of self-reliant India, through successful partnerships.

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