As India grapples with an unprecedented new wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) has risen to the occasion by making an all-out effort to save precious lives.
The company has now become India's largest producer of medical-grade liquid oxygen from a single location starting from scratch before the pandemic.
At its refinery-cum-petrochemical complex in Jamnagar and other facilities, RIL now produces over 1000 metric tonnes (MT) of medical-grade liquid oxygen per day — or above 11% of India's total production – meeting the needs of nearly every one in ten patients.
Under the personal supervision of RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani at Jamnagar, Reliance has adopted a two-pronged approach to strengthening the availability of medical oxygen in India.
Firstly, refocusing several industrial processes at Reliance's Jamnagar and other facilities for rapid scale-up in medical-grade liquid oxygen production.
Secondly, augmenting loading and transportation capacities ensuring its swift and safe supply to states and union territories across India.
Commenting on these initiatives, Mukesh Ambani said, "For me and for all of us at Reliance, nothing is more important than saving every life as India battles against a new wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is an immediate need to maximize India's production and transportation capacities for medical-grade oxygen. I am proud of our engineers at Jamnagar who have worked tirelessly, with a great sense of patriotic urgency, to meet this new challenge. I am truly humbled by the determination and sense of purpose shown by the bright, young members of the Reliance family who have once again risen to the occasion and delivered when India needs it the most."
This oxygen is being provided free of cost to several state governments countrywide to bring immediate relief to over 1 lakh patients daily.
Since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, Reliance has supplied over 55,000 MT of medical-grade liquid oxygen across the country.
Nita Ambani, Founder-Chairperson of Reliance Foundation, said, "Our country is going through an unprecedented crisis. We at Reliance Foundation will continue to do everything we can to help. Every life is precious. Our plants at our Jamnagar refinery have been repurposed overnight to produce medical-grade liquid oxygen that is being distributed across India. Our thoughts and prayers are with our fellow countrymen and women. Together, we will overcome these difficult times."
In another innovation, Reliance converted nitrogen tankers into transport trucks for medical-grade oxygen through innovative and safe processes approved by the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization (PESO), a government regulatory body.
The company organized the airlifting of 24 ISO containers into India from Saudi Arabia, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Thailand adding 500 MT of new transportation capacity for liquid oxygen. These ISO containers will help in removing the transport constraints for medical-grade liquid Oxygen in the country.
In addition, Reliance is airfreighting more ISO containers over the next few days.
We would like to offer our sincere thanks to Aramco, BP, and IAF for their immense help in providing and transporting ISO containers to help the country in its battle against Covid, said RIL in a statement.