NEW DELHI, May 26: State-owned power giant NHPC Ltd is setting up two oxygen plants and taking other measures to support the battle against the second wave of COVID-19, a senior company official said on Wednesday.
NHPC Limited, under the Ministry of Power, is the country’s largest hydropower producer. The company has also diversified in the field of solar and wind power.
“Our projects/power stations are located in remote parts of the country in J&K, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and North-Eastern states of India where NHPC is undertaking a series of initiatives to fight the second wave of COVID-19,” NHPC CMD Abhay Kumar Singh was quoted as saying in a company statement.
The company is extending all support to the state governments and the local administration, despite the difficult geographical terrain and inhospitable climatic conditions, he added.
NHPC is in the process of setting up an oxygen generation plant of 1,000 litres/per minute (LPM) capacity in Badshah Khan District General Hospital at Faridabad. Another oxygen plant having a capacity of 2,000 LPM will be set up in ESIC Hospital & Medical College, Faridabad.
NHPC is also utilising its manpower and resources for COVID-19 testing, vaccination, setting up isolation centres, setting up oxygen generation plants, other medical Infrastructure at locations where it has plants and power stations, the CMD said.
In addition, NHPC has provided a total of 281 cold chain equipment like ice line refrigerator, deep freezer, walk-in cooler and walk-in-freezer to facilitate the handling and storage of COVID-19 vaccines for Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir.
NHDC, a subsidiary of NHPC, has also handed over a total of 22 deep freezers to the Madhya Pradesh government.
In Arunachal Pradesh, the company’s 2,000 MW Subansiri Lower Project has provided medical equipment to the administration of Kamle district for up-gradation of the healthcare facility of the primary health centre.
NHPC has set up 64 COVID centres with oxygen support across all its plant and power station locations.
Besides, the company has also supplied crucial medical equipment like suction machine, foot-operated suction for infants, microscope, nebuliser, etc. (PTI)