Maruti to shut Haryana, Gujarat plants to make oxygen available for medical needs

Auto giant Maruti Suzuki has decided to shut down factories in Haryana and Gujarat to make oxygen available for medical needs. In light of this, Maruti has decided to advance its bi-annual maintenance shutdown from May 1-9, the company said.

"In the current situation, we believe that all available oxygen should be used to save lives. Accordingly, Maruti Suzuki has decided to advance its maintenance shutdown, originally scheduled for June, to 1st to 9th May.  Production in all factories will close for maintenance during this period. The company has been informed that Suzuki Motor Gujarat has taken the same decision for its factory," the company said in a statement.

Also read: 600% jump in oxygen demand from hospitals

As part of the car manufacturing process, Maruti Suzuki uses a small amount of oxygen in its factories while relatively much larger quantities are used by the manufacturers of components. The company is "committed to support the government in diverting oxygen for saving lives," the auto major said.

Several other Indian companies have come forward to mitigate the oxygen crisis in India. They have ramped up the production of liquid oxygen that hospitals are finding hard to procure, especially in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Also read: Oxygen crunch: Centre assures stock available as Covid-19 cases rise

Reliance Industries Limited, Tata, JSW Steel and Jindal Steel and Power are a few companies helping the Indian government provide liquid oxygen to hospitals. They have increased oxygen production at their plants to help meet the daily oxygen requirement at hospitals.

India is battling a major oxygen crunch as Covid-19 cases rise at an unprecedented pace. Despite the central government's efforts, many patients are dying due to lack of oxygen in many hospitals. India is getting emergency oxygen imports from various countries. Air India has already begun airlifting 10,636 oxygen concentrators from the US medical devices manufacturer Philips. Countries like Ireland, the UK, France, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Thailand and UAE are supporting India in its time of need.

Also read: PM Modi takes stock of India's medical oxygen production capacity