Nepal Foreign Affairs (KATHMANDU, 26 August 2021) – As part of India’s robust partnership with Nepal in tackling the COVID -19 pandemic, Ambassador of India to Nepal, Vinay Mohan Kwatra handed over a 960 LPM Medical Oxygen Plant to Minister of State for Health, Umesh Shrestha at a ceremony organized at the Ministry of Health & Population on 26 August 2021.
The Medical Oxygen plant has been installed at B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, and is designed to cater to providing 5 Litres Per Minute (LPM) per person amounting to a total capacity of 960 LPM. It thereby carries a capacity to serve 200 patients simultaneously.
At the ceremony, Ambassador highlighted the significance of the deep rooted and multifaceted partnership between India and Nepal and reiterated that this gift symbolized India’s continued commitment to Nepal in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. State Minister Shrestha mentioned that the donation of 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.
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. 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. India is the 4th country in the world to develop this technology, which utilizes Pressure Swing Adsorption 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. This would help in reducing the logistics of transporting cylinders and also continuous and reliable oxygen supply available round the clock.
The Government of 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, reads the statement issued by Indian Embassy in Kathmandu.