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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Wednesday oxygen supply is being monitored at the district level, and the government is working to fill the gaps.
Supply has been very neatly mapped and new permissions have been given particularly for the hard-stressed 12 states of Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, she said while speaking to industry chambers FICCI and CII via an online interaction.
“The government has exempted all inter-state movement of oxygen tankers, exempted from registration and permits, they can operate round the clock, and cylinder filling plants are operating 24 hours to fill the gaps with necessary safeguards,” she said, as per a statement by the Finance Ministry. Sitharaman said steps have been taken adequately for drugs that are important, and the Centre has given fast-track approvals for Remdesivir production. As soon as the medical oxygen demand is met, the industry would also get necessary supply of oxygen since the import of medical oxygen has been allowed.
She suggested that the industry wait and watch for the next few days to assess the situation amid the second Covid-19 wave.
