Industrial gas manufacturer MVS Engineering has sought the government's intervention to ensure smooth supply of zeolite molecular sieves, a key component for the production of medical oxygen.
New Delhi-based MVS Engineering is a leader in industrial gas systems in India. The company has installed 40 PSA oxygen plants across the country within a year.
In an interaction, Siddharth Rastogi, Executive Director (ED), MVS Engineering Pvt Ltd said his company has orders in hand from many hospitals across the country including several in the Delhi-NCR region but due to the unavailability of the zeolite molecular sieves it is unable to execute the said orders.
Zeolite molecular sieves which separate the oxygen from air through the Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) process are imported from countries like France, Italy etc, Rastogi said.
Cancellation of orders by suppliers because of preferential treatment to government organizations and a few others is posing a major challenge for the company to clear order backlogs, he said.
"We sought urgent government intervention in resolving the artificial supply shortages of multiple raw materials and inputs, particularly zeolite molecular sieves whose orders have been delayed.
"The company has around 50 orders in hand from hospitals across India and another 200 orders in the pipeline, nearing issuance that are being threatened due to this artificially created shortage of zeolites molecular sieves and other raw materials," he said.
The company has written letters to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Department of Chemicals and Fertilizers apprising about the issues it is facing, Rastogi said.
Explaining further, Rastogi said the monthly requirement of the said material of his company was 30-40 tonne. The government has given its requirement of 300-400 tonne to zeolite manufacturers.
Rastogi suggested if a portion of the supplies received by the government is made available to the company it would help it to set up PSA oxygen plants for its customers who are mainly hospitals
