Amazon, Greenko up supply of oxygen concentrators as India struggles with shortage

The first batch of 1,000 oxygen concentrators have landed and are available for purchase on Amazon while the rest are expected in the second half of May.

An oxygen concentrator kept at an emergency Covid-19 care centre in New Delhi | Representational image | T. Narayan | Bloomberg

Amazon.com Inc. and Greenko Group, one of India’s largest renewable energy companies, are boosting supplies of oxygen concentrators as the country grapples with a shortage of this life-saving medical equipment that has killing many amid the world’s worst coronavirus crisis.The American e-commerce giant is working with “sellers on its marketplace to help them bring in about 9,000 oxygen concentrators for customers in India,” the company wrote in a blog Saturday. The first batch of 1,000 oxygen concentrators have landed and are available for purchase while the rest are expected in the second half of May, it said.

Hyderabad-based Greenko said Sunday that it had airlifted the first batch of 1,000 large medical grade oxygen concentrators. “This will aid our medical teams in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities for pre-ICU support and post-ICU stabilization of patients,” Anil Chalamalasetty, Greenko’s chief executive officer said in a statement.

The South Asian nation, which is witnessing a brutal second wave of Covid-19 infections, has seen a surge in demand for portable oxygen machines as India’s health care facilities get stretched to breaking point. With hospitals forced to petition courts when they were critically low on oxygen supplies, portable machines have emerged a crucial line of defense for Covid patients recuperating at home.

India temporarily scrapped import duties of as much as 20.4% on the oxygenates earlier this month after the red tape prevented life-saving equipment and medicines from reaching the needy. – Bloomberg