While India fights the unprecedented second Covid wave, Reliance Industry came forward to solve the most intense issues the country is currently facing-Oxygen Crisis. RIL understood the need of the hour and assured the availability of medical-grade liquid oxygen for the treatment of severely ill patients across the country.
RIL was not a manufacturer of Medical grade oxygen before the pandemic but decided to make efforts to improve the situation in the country and contribute in the battle against the pandemic.
RIL engineers quickly reconfigured and optimised current operations - designed for Refining and Petrochemicals grade oxygen - to produce high-purity medical grade oxygen.
Reliance engineers worked tirelessly and, through process optimisation and modifications of Cryogenic Air Separation Units, were able maximise production of medical grade liquid oxygen in a very short span of time.
At its refinery-cum-petrochemical complex in Jamnagar and other facilities, RIL now produces over 1000 MT of medical-grade liquid oxygen per day — or over 11% of India's total production - meeting the needs of nearly every one in ten patients.
Not only in the manufacturing part, but Reliance also ensured the proper and safe delivery of the precious life-saving element to the required places Reliance converted nitrogen tankers into transport trucks for medical grade oxygen, through innovative and safe processes that were approved by the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization (PESO), the relevant regulatory body of the Government of India.
Commenting on these initiatives, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries Limited, 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 maximise 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."
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."
The precious oxygen is being provided free-of-cost to several State Governments across the country to bring immediate relief to over 1 lakh patients on a daily basis.
Since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, Reliance has supplied over 55,000 MT of medical-grade liquid oxygen across the country saving thousands of lives amid the gloom and despair the country is witnessing.