The Minister of Steel and Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan today inaugurated several important projects in Karnataka, executed by the Steel PSU KIOCL. These included an Oxygen Generator Plant, 50 Beds at Govt. Hospital, 5 MW Solar Power Plant, and Barrel type Blender Reclaimer. On this occasion, the Minister of state for Steel Shri Faggan Singh Kulaste was also present.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Pradhan said that the nation saw unprecedented challenges during the second wave of the pandemic, and put enormous stress on the health system.  The requirement of medical oxygen shot up in the country, and our steel and petroleum companies, both from the public and private sectors, rose to the occasion and supplied liquid medical oxygen in the country. He said that the Oxygen requirement in the country went upto over 10,000 MT/day during the last month but steel Companies even undertook production cut in steel to meet the country’s demand. He said that the Oxygen production capacities are in the Eastern parts of the country while the demand was maximum in the Northern and western parts of the country. The situation was well managed, and capacities were ramped up. Today, there is no dearth of Oxygen concentrators, cylinders and PSA plants in the country. Shri Pradhan congratulated the Karnataka government for managing the pandemic efficiently. It even provided the Oxygen to its neighboring states during the initial days.

Describing the big leap in the country’s vaccination drive, Shri Pradhan said that over 8.2 million people were vaccinated yesterday. He said that under the guidance and leadership of hon’ble Prime Minister, the country has taken pro-active measure to fight the Covid-19. There is abundant availability of Vaccines in the country and by December, all the eligible adults are likely to get the jab.He, however, called upon the support of all, including the spiritual leaders, political leaders, social workers, health professionals and officials, to spread awareness among the people to overcome any type of reluctance or hesitancy about vaccination, and remove any misgivings. “Vaccine hesitancy is a challenge in front of us. Being a sensible society it is our responsibility to rise to the occasion. I call upon all stakeholders to work together to address vaccine hesitancy in the society.”

Shri Pradhan said that India must be protected from the 3^rd wave ofCovid, and vaccination is the only way for that. The minister said that yesterday was also the International day of Yoga. Yoga is an effective practice to adopt healthy lifestyle and keep diseases away. He said that it is a matter of pride that on this day itself we made a record in vaccination, the effective way to keep COVID away. He also lauded the Karnataka government for active participation in the vaccination drive, and being the second largest state in the country to have vaccinated 8.7 lakh people yesterday.

Oxygen Generator Plant at Adichunchanagiri Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), Karnataka: KIOCL has donated one oxygen generation plant of capacity 1000 m³/day with an investment of around Rs. 90 Lakhs which will help to treat around 100 covid patients per day. The plant has been handed over to AIMS, Karnataka which is run by Sri Adichunchanagiri Shikshana Trust. Adichunchanagiri Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS) was established in the year 1986 at BG Nagar, Sri Adichunchanagiri Kshetra, Mandya District.

Donation of 50 Beds at Govt. Hospital, Moodabidri, Mangalore: KIOCL has distributed 50 beds for taking care of Covid patients at various places in Dakshina Kannada Districts. Now Company is donating 50 beds to Govt. Hospital located at Moodabidri for the purpose of Covid patients. The Company spent around Rs. 18 Lakhs for providing beds at Govt. Hospitals. 

Details of 5 MWSolar Power Plant, Karnataka: The 5 MW Solar Power Plant at Kathrikehal Village, Chikkanayakanahalli, Tumkur district in Karnataka has been set up at a total cost of Rs. 24.44 Crores. The total capacity of the company has now gone up to 6.35 MW.Solar Power generation will help in meeting the KIOCL Limited Power requirement to the extent of 5 MW out of the total demand of 30 MW requirement for its Pellet Plant at Mangalore. The initiative taken by KIOCL will also help in bringing down the power cost, thereby will help in reducing the production cost of the Pellet Plant.The estimated power generation from the plant is 10 million Kwh per annum and approximate savings from this Rs 6.2 crores per annum.The estimated life cycle of this plant is 25 years, and payback period is 56 months.

Barrel type Blender Reclaimer of 1000 tons per hour capacity at KIOCL’s Mangalore Pellet Plant: KIOCL Ltd for its 3.5 mtpa pellet plant at Mangalore, as part of modernization of Pellet Plant, has installed a Barrel type Blender Reclaimer of 1000 tons per hour capacity at a cost of Rs.17.50 Crores.This equipment is meant for homogenous blending of various type of iron ore fines by moving forward and backward directions which will help in increasing the operational flexibility.

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YB