Thrust Sector status approved for Oxygen production units in the state

Punjab Polity and Governance

06-May-21

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Amid the Oxygen crisis triggered by the spiralling Covid cases, the Punjab government has announced Thrust Sector status for all Oxygen product units in the state,
A decision was also taken to appoint a nodal officer to coordinate with Customs Department for quick clearance of foreign aid.
According to the Chief Minister ,with the way things are going currently, the situation are likely to worsen in the coming days, with nobody knowing how many more waves of Covid would hit the country and the state.
The decision was taken in a virtual cabinet meeting headed by the Chief Minister.
The status will apply to oxygen production units with minimum capacity of 700 cylinders per day equivalent to 5 MT, Oxygen cylinder manufacturers/fabricators and Oxygen concentrator manufacturing units.
Oxygen refilling units will not be covered by the special status.
With this decision, the units (both old and new) will become eligible for 100 percent exemption from Change of Land Use (CLU)/External Development Charges (EDC), Property Tax, Electricity Duty, Stamp Duty and Investment Subsidy, by way of reimbursement of GST upto 125 percent of Fixed Capital Investment made in the land and machinery.
The Cabinet took the decision to help the state cope with the emergent situation arising out of acute shortage of oxygen in view of the increased case load due to unprecedented Covid pandemic in the state.
For the week ending May 4, the state had average positivity rate of 11.6%, with CFR (Case Fatality Rate) of 2.1%, from a sample size of 74 lakh.
Currently, the daily oxygen allocation to Punjab stands at 195 MT from outside the state.
- Inox plant at Baddi (60 MT),
  Air Liquide plant at Panipat (20 MT),
  Air Liquide plant at Roorkee (15 MT),
  Linde plant at Dehradun (10 MT)
  ? Inox plant at Bokaro (90 MT).
However, only 140 MT is actually being supplied from these plants on a daily basis, with shortage of tankers hampering lifting of oxygen especially from Bokaro.
Two additional tankers made available by IOCL have not been unutilised due to technical/compatibility issues.
Further, despite repeated requests, Linde & Air Liquide have not been not releasing their committed quota.
Other issues with respect to timely supply of oxygen include other state governments creating problems in supplies from the plants that are in their jurisdiction.
The plants have also had issues of tripping and power outages leading to supply disruptions and delays.