India is providing necessary assistance in accordance with deep rooted bilateral ties with Nepal

As part of India’s robust partnership with Nepal in tackling the COVID -19 pandemic, India on Thursday handed over a medical oxygen plant to Nepal.

The 960 litres per minute (LPM) Medical Oxygen Plant, which has been installed at the B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, is designed to provide 5 Litres per Minute (LPM) per person. It thus has the capacity to serve 200 patients simultaneously.

“Ambassador of India to Nepal, Vinay Mohan Kwatra handed over a 960 LPM Medical Oxygen Plant to Hon’ble Minister of State for Health, Umesh Shrestha at a ceremony organized at the Ministry of Health & Population on 26 August 2021,” said a statement of the Embassy of India in Nepal.

Speaking at the ceremony, Ambassador Kwatra highlighted the significance of the deep rooted and multifaceted partnership between India and Nepal. He reiterated that this gift symbolized India’s continued commitment to Nepal in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nepal’s Minister of State for Health Shrestha mentioned that the donation of the oxygen plant was a critical health infrastructure that would reinforce Nepal’s efforts in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.

He added that the assistance by Government of India two decades ago in building BPKIHS in Dharan was an important milestone, and addition of oxygen plant today is another milestone that would go a long way in serving people of Nepal particularly Provinces 1 and 2.

The Indian Embassy's statement said, “India will continue to stand with Nepal and its people in fighting the pandemic and providing necessary assistance as best possible in accordance with our deep rooted bilateral ties.”

“Oxygen is a very important clinical gas in health care centres and hospitals for treatment of COVID 19 patients, as has been experienced during the second wave of the pandemic in both India and Nepal,” it noted.

“With this DEBEL Medical Oxygen Plant that has been developed by Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), hospitals now have the option of generating medical oxygen on-site, in a highly cost effective manner,” the Indian Embassy’s statement mentioned.

It informed that India is the 4th country in the world to develop this technology, which utilizes Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) technique and molecular sieve technology to generate oxygen directly from atmospheric air.

The installation of the medical oxygen plant would help in avoiding the dependency of hospitals for scarce oxygen cylinders, the statement submitted. This would help in reducing the logistics of transporting cylinders and also continuous and reliable oxygen supply available round the clock, it argued.