The Indian government has allowed the import of Oxygen concentrators for personal use through post, courier or e-commerce portals.
Vivek Asri
“Portable Oxygen Concentrator” by thekirbster is licensed under CC BY 2.0
The Director-General of Foreign Trade says the import of Oxygen concentrators for personal use through post, courier or e-commerce portals has been permitted, where Customs clearance is sought as “gifts”, till 31 July 2021.
The DGFT has amended the Foreign Trade Policy to allow the import of Oxygen concentrators in high demand in the country due to the deadly surge in the COVID-19 cases.
According to the amended rules, the exemption for oxygen concentrators is allowed only for a period till 31 July for personal use.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sanctioned the procurement of 100,000 portable oxygen concentrators from the PM Cares Fund.
India is facing an acute shortage of Oxygen as the number of coronavirus infections is rising.
The COVID-ravaged country logged 401,993 new cases on Saturday, according to MoHFW, becoming the first country in the world to record over 400k cases in a day.
As many as 3,498 new deaths were also reported on the day. The death toll from the virus has reached 211,835 since the beginning of the COVID pandemic in 2020.
What is an Oxygen Concentrator?
An oxygen concentrator is a medical device that offers oxygen therapy to patients unable to get enough oxygen into their bodies through natural breathing. The device delivers Oxygen directly to the patient via a nasal cannula or oxygen mask. They are better than Oxygen cylinders as Concentrators collect Oxygen from the surrounding air, concentrate it, and then deliver it to the patient. So refilling is not required.
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