Interview | Solving oxygen crisis: Distribution bottleneck primary challenge, says Moloy Banerjee, head-gases - Linde South Asia

Moloy Banerjee, head of gases - South Asia of Linde Plc, one of the largest industrial gas companies in the world and a major supplier of oxygen in India, believes that distribution remains the bigger challenge for producers across the country.

India is going through an unprecedented shortage of oxygen, with several hospitals across the country running short of life-saving gas. With the number of COVID-19 patients rising, this demand is expected to rise. Moloy Banerjee, head of gases - South Asia of Linde Plc, one of the largest industrial gas companies in the world and a major supplier of oxygen in India, believes that distribution remains the bigger challenge for producers across the country. He added that the current production in the country is enough to meet the demand.

Linde – through its affiliates Linde India and Praxair India – is in the process of ramping up production in India. Linde has a combined capacity of more than 2000 metric tonnes per day (MTPD), while India’s overall production is around 9,000 MTPD now.

Edited Excerpts

Q. India is facing an unprecedented oxygen crisis. What is Linde India’s contribution to tide over the situation?

A: Linde India Limited and Praxair India Pvt. Ltd. are subsidiaries of Linde Plc. and collectively, are one the leading suppliers of medical oxygen. In addition to optimizing our operations to maximize output and diverting our industrial redirect supplies of oxygen from most industries to healthcare services, we are working on several large-scale initiatives in cooperation with the Government of India, relevant authorities, and industry partners at a national level to address the current crisis.

Our main focus is currently on increasing supply and improving distribution efficiency, and thankfully many such measures are already in place. For example, Linde is working with various partners to urgently import cryogenic ISO containers from different international locations to India. We are also converting liquid argon and liquid nitrogen tankers to liquid oxygen instead, as well as building new/augmenting existing capacities installations at various partner hospitals. Our teams are working round the clock to ensure that delivery is not interrupted.

Q. Is the availability of oxygen or supply-side bottleneck the real issue behind the current oxygen shortage in India?

A: The rise in oxygen demand is much higher compared to last year. However, the current demand can be met with the volume manufactured collectively in India. But this volume is not available uniformly across the country and the demand is higher in certain parts of India compared to others. Hence, distribution remains the bigger challenge to solve to address the issue of oxygen shortage. As discussed in the third quarter, distribution bottleneck is currently the primary challenge.

Linde India and Praxair India collectively manage and operate several plants with Air Separation and manufacturing capabilities. These plants currently have a combined capacity of more than 2,000 metric tonnes per day (MTPD) and are located across India.

Q. You tied up with Tata Group and ITC to make cryogenic tanks available across the country. What is your strategy in this regard?

A: Linde India is already in the process of importing Cryogenic containers available from SE Asia & the Middle East. We are also exploring other geographies for the availability of cryogenic containers.

Linde is collaborating with various Indian industry partners to transport ISO cryogenic tankers from across the region to India. These containers can carry up to 20 tons of Liquid Oxygen over long distances, and upon arrival, the containers will be conditioned and certified for liquid medical oxygen transport from Linde facilities. The tankers can also act as interim oxygen storages in remote areas that are facing oxygen scarcity.

Q. Are you looking at further tie-ups to ensure the availability of such tankers?

A: The company is currently having discussions with other stakeholders and industry partners so that more containers and necessary equipment can be brought into the country.

Linde is in the process of ramping up production in India through its affiliates Linde India and Praxair India

Q. How effective is the role being played by EG II in terms of coming out of this crisis?

A: As part of Empowered Group 2 (EG2), we are closely working with the Government of India to produce and supply medical oxygen to various parts of the country. All possible efforts are being undertaken to address supply and transportation challenges and we are thankful to our international counterparts and industry partners for providing the necessary support.