O2 crisis: IIT Kanpur to set up 50 oxygen plants

Lucknow / June 8, 2021

Amid high demand for liquid medical oxygen (LMO) by Covid-19 patients, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur is working on a blueprint to facilitate the setting up of 50 oxygen manufacturing plants in the coming months.

In fact, 10 oxygen plants are planned to set up in the month of June itself. The incubation wing of IIT Kanpur, Startup Incubation and Innovation Centre (SIIC) has tied up with industry partners to set up oxygen plants of 250 LPM (litres per minute) and 500 LPM capacities.

Under the ‘Mission Bharat O2, launched by IIT Kanpur in May 2021, the SIIC will work with four partner manufacturers viz. Avadh Rail Infra (Tamil Nadu), Pullman Engineering (West Bengal), Energy Pack Boilers (Gujarat) and International Cylinders (Himachal Pradesh).

“Each manufacturer has been selected from a different part of the country to ensure widespread availability of the finished product. SIIC’s strong ties with the local hospitals and administration will pivot their combined efforts to support the public health system,” an Institute communiqué said.

‘Mission Bharat O2’ was launched to address the medical oxygen crisis in India with an objective of promoting indigenous manufacturing at par with global standards.  It is led by Prof Amitabha Bandyopadhyay, Professor In-charge, Innovation & Incubation, IIT Kanpur; Srikant Sastri, Director, FIRST-IITK and Chairman, I3G Advisory Network; and Rahul Patel, Head of Strategic Initiatives.

Earlier, the SIIC team had in the first wave delivered an invasive ICU ventilator in just 90 days with Noccarc Robotics.

In the second wave, the team changed its course to cater the emerging requirements of the public health system, wherein a SIIC incubatee, AIPL (https://www.acquainfra.com), developed the design of the oxygen plant. The project is also aimed at making the Indian healthcare manufacturing ecosystem self-sustaining by reducing dependence on imports.

“In the first wave, SIIC and its companies delivered the Swasa N-95 masks and the Noccarc V310 ICU ventilator. Both products, developed locally, were a testament to Indian manufacturers’ capability to deliver in times of urgency. With ‘Mission Bharat O2’, we look further to equip the healthcare systems with world-class medical infrastructure,” Bandyopadhyay noted.

“The pandemic has allowed us to capitalise on the untapped potential of the local manufacturing landscape to answer India’s healthcare needs. We believe that the Mission will chart the course for making local manufacturing the new normal,” Sastri added.

Established in 2000, IIT Kanpur’s SIIC is one of the oldest technology business incubators with many successes under its belt. Nurtured over two decades, the incubation ecosystem helps convert an idea into a business. The incubator has developed an experience base and networks critical to developing early-stage, technology-focused start-ups that disrupt paradigms across domains, including agriculture, healthcare, aerospace, energy, water, and education.


(Virendra Singh Rawat is a Lucknow based journalist, who writes on contemporary issues of industry, economy, agriculture, infrastructure, budget etc)