A list of 26 medical oxygen manufacturers across the country has been issued by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). The CDSCO has also requested the Drug Controllers of all States and Union Territories to provide monthly data of their stock of medical oxygen from 18 months. The Drug Controllers shall submit data related to the sale of oxygen, nitrogen and argon along with installed capacity, and actual production levels, pre and during COVID-19.
For getting the information, the Drug Controller General of (India) (DCGI) has also requested the Drug Controllers of the country to deploy drug inspectors to the leading manufacturers of the medical oxygen. Drug Inspectors needs to enter premises where manufacturing is done so as to collect the data, thus, NPPA has invoked the powers under DPCO 2013 to help them do so.
Manmohan Taneja, Assistant State Drugs Controller, Haryana said, “Particularly, in the State of Haryana there is no shortage of medical oxygen, however, we have asked our drug control officer to collect the requested data from the manufacturers. The DCGI has been asking this data for nearly three months now. This exercise could be a step of preparedness by the regulatory agencies gauge the demand and understand the market availability to deal with any critical situation.”
DPIIT list of medical oxygen manufacturers
1. Lynde India —-Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Orissa Gujarat and Uttarakhand
2. Air Water Jamshedpur– Jharkhand
3. India Glycol Kashipur- Uttarakhand
4. Inox India– Gujarat
5. Air Liquid– Gujarat, Haryana, Uttarakhand
6. Taiyo Nippon Sanso India– Maharashtra
7. EIGL–Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and West Bengal
8. Goyal MG Gases — Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal
9. National Oxygen —-Tamilnadu and Puducherry
10. Premier Cryogenics Nagaon–Assam
11. Liquiniox Pydibhimavaram– Andhra Pradesh
12. Jindal Steel Plant, Raigarh- Chhattisgarh
13. Sriram oxygen Bhab Nagar– Gujarat
14. RS Cryogenics, Bari Brahamana, Jammu– Jammu and Kashmir
15. Hi-tech Industries, Mohali– Punjab
16. Jalan Gases and Allied Industries, Rajpura– Punjab
17. BOC Gases, Ludhiana– Punjab
18. Anaesthetic Gasses, Derabassi– Punjab
19. Bhullar Oxygen, Amritsar– Punjab
20. Universal Air Products — Karnataka
21. Bhuruka Gases — Karnataka
22. Kolhapur Oxygen Acetylene– Maharashtra
23. Inox India — Maharashtra
24. Peenya Industries Gases– Tamilnadu
25. Sicgilsol Gases– Tamilnadu
26. Himalayan Gas Industries — Assam