The Centre today allotted five medical oxygen generation plants to Telangana under the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund Trust.
The plants, with a a capacity of 154.19 metric tons each, will significantly boost emergency health services in the state.
The five plants will be set up at the Osmania General Hospital, the Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital, the Government Fever Hospital and the King Koti Chest Hospital in Hyderabad, and the MGM Hospital in Warangal.
(The Centre had already set up similar tanks in the Gandhi Hospital and the NIMS in August last year, when the state saw its highest number of Covid-19 cases.)
The union Health Ministry will be responsible for the installation of the plants.
Expressing his appreciation for the Centre's decision, state Director of Public Health Dr G Srinivasa Rao said, "The plants will not only help meet the demand for oxygen during the ongoing pandemic but will also strengthen our public health system greatly in the long run."
The Centre has undertaken a nation-wide distribution program of such plants at a cost of Rs 201.58 crore. It has sanctioned the setting up as many as 162 such plants across the country, including Telangana's five plants, so far. The procurement for the plants will be done by the Central Medical Supply Store, an autonomous wing of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in each of the country's 32 States and UTs.