Thimphu: Bhutan will supply life-saving liquid oxygen to India which is battling an unprecedented second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, signalling a practical manifestation of the “uniquely close and friendly” bilateral ties, the Indian embassy here said on Tuesday.
Every day, 40 metric tonnes of liquid oxygen produced by the oxygen plant will be exported to Assam using cryogenic tankers, the embassy said in a statement.
The liquid oxygen to India will be supplied from the new plant being set up at the Motanga Industrial Estate, Samdrup Jongkhar district by a Bhutanese company, S D Cryogenics Gases Private Limited, it said.
The oxygen plant has a domestic investment of 51 per cent by the Bhutanese company and FDI component of 49 per cent by Assam-based Indian company Meghalaya Oxygen Private Limited.
This is a practical manifestation of the uniquely close and friendly ties between India and Bhutan, the statement said.
The provision of oxygen by Bhutan will augment India’s efforts to win the fight against COVID-19 and save precious lives, it added.
India is struggling with a second wave of the pandemic with more than 3,00,000 daily new coronavirus cases being reported in the past few days, and hospitals in several states are reeling under a shortage of medical oxygen and beds.
On Tuesday, the Union Health Ministry said that India’s total tally of COVID-19 cases has climbed to 1,76,36,307 with 3,23,144 people testing positive in a day, while the national recovery rate has further dropped to 82.54 per cent.
The death toll increased to 1,97,894 with 2,771 daily new fatalities, it said.
