Delhivery to provide logistical support for importing oxygen concentrators

MUMBAI: Logistics and supply chain startup Delhivery is providing logistical support to import oxygen concentrators from China, at a time when India has been hit a shortage of air cargo capacity, especially from China. “We’re flying charters into India with oxygen concentrators and other essential supplies and can build more capacity on-demand,” Delhivery’s cofounder Sahil Barua wrote in a post on professional networking LinkedIn on Saturday.

ETtech

Oxygen concentrators are portable machines that generate oxygen from the air for use by patients at home. India reported over 3.46 lakh fresh Covid-19 cases as of Friday, making it the highest single-day spike recorded by the country. With cases rising in an unprecedented manner, oxygen has been in huge demand leading to a massive scarcity across the nation.

A Delhivery spokesperson said that the company is providing logistical support on an urgent and subsidised basis, and not importing the material itself. The company had received a lot of queries for the import of essentials and observed a shortage of air cargo capacity, especially from China.

“To tackle this, we’ve decided to place our own charters temporarily, in collaboration with our airline partners. We are going to fly these charters at subsidised prices to ensure that a capacity crunch on air freight does not delay or make the logistics of these essential items prohibitive. Besides the air movement, we will also help with local movement at both ends and assist with customs clearance, again through partners, in India,” the spokesperson said.

Delhivery will fly two flights next week and will continue the efforts based on the demand.

“We are offering this service to a host of importers of essential goods and several of our larger clients who are also taking initiatives to import specific essentials,” the spokesperson added.

In an impetus to such initiatives, the government on Saturday waived basic customs duty and health cess on imports of oxygen, oxygen equipment, and Covid-19 vaccines. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also asked the revenue department to ensure seamless and quick customs clearance for oxygen-related equipment.

This move comes at a time when the biggest manufacturers of oxygen concentrators are out of stock and the wider country suffers from a severe oxygen shortage.

Philips and BPL, the two largest manufacturers of oxygen concentrators used by patients at home, have been running out of stock. Both firms have scaled up imports but that will take time to arrive in India.

Source : 24HTECH