Maruti oxygen. Maruti Suzuki, vendors to procure oxygen plants from Airox, SAM Gas

Country's largest passenger vehicles manufacturer Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) on Sunday said the company and its vendors will procure oxygen plants from two companies and donate them for medical use.

"We realised the critical importance of rapidly installing Oxygen PSA plants, both to produce life-saving oxygen as well as reduce the immense logistical problems. It was found that these plants are being made by small scale units with very limited resources or ability to scale-up production. We located two companies in the NCR area, Airox Nigen Equipments Pvt Ltd and SAM Gas Projects Pvt Ltd," it said in a statement.

These two companies were flooded with orders but had a capacity to manufacture only five to eight plants a month and therefore, MSIL decided to use its resources to help scale-up their production.

MSIL started talking to them from the May 1 and quickly reached an understanding with them. While technology, quality and performance, as well as all commercial matters, would remain the responsibility of the two companies, MSIL and its vendors would use their capabilities to rapidly scale up production. MSIL’s involvement would be on a no profit basis, it said.

"A separate MSIL team is working to ensure that the plants when produced are installed and commissioned as fast as possible. The top management of MSIL is involved in coordinating and monitoring this activity and hopes that it will make some difference in the national fight against Covid," the company said.

Airox has its factory in Ahmedabad and SKH Metals, a vendor, is working with them. MSIL has been able to arrange new sources for Zeolite, an imported material and critical for a PSA plant. This will be airfreighted.m, it said.

Compressors are another important bought-out component. Airox has already reached an output of one PSA plant a day and this number will be rapidly scaled up to four per day within May itself. Output in May is expected to be 50-60 plants.

SAM Gas Projects is being assisted by MSIL's vendor JBML. MSIL is helping with all critical inputs. This company is expected to produce 20-30 plants in May, the company added.

With the rising cases every day across the country, MSIL has also announced that it will extend the temporarily shutting down of its manufacturing facilities in Gurgaon and Manesar, and Suzuki Gujarat plants till May 16. The earlier deadline for plants shut down was till Sunday (May 9).