Cooperative fertiliser major IFFCO on Monday said it will set up four medical oxygen plants with an investment of about Rs 30 crore in the next 15 days in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Odisha, in a bid to supply it for free to hospitals.

The plant will be put up at Kalol (Gujarat), Aonla, and Phulpur (Uttar Pradesh) and at Paradeep (Odisha), it said.

"The order has been already issued. It will take at least 15 days from today to transport, install and commission an oxygen plant. A dedicated team is working on this project. IFFCO will try to commission it as soon as possible for the service of the nation," the IFFCO spokesperson told PTI.

IFFCO is investing around Rs 30 crore on four oxygen plants, he added.

On Sunday late night, IFFCO Managing Director and CEO U S Awasthi had announced that the cooperative is going to establish an oxygen plant with a capacity of 200 cubic meter per hour in its Kalol unit in Gujarat.

"IFFCO will give free oxygen to the hospital, each cylinder of 46.7 litres," he had said.

The proposed oxygen plant in Kalol will generate medical-grade oxygen and fill 700 big D-type cylinders daily and also 300 medium B-size cylinders on demand, which will be supplied to all hospitals for free, he had added.

Awasthi had also said that IFFCO will fill up the oxygen cylinders free of cost for hospitals, but they need to bring their own cylinders for a refill. A security deposit will be taken if cylinders are taken from IFFCO to avoid hoarding of oxygen.

In view of the recent surge in Covid-19 cases, there is a huge demand for oxygen for effective clinical treatment of Covid-19 patients.

As a result, there are reports of a shortage of medical oxygen in some parts of the country, especially in Maharashtra and Delhi.