KATHMANDU, 14 June, 2021 (TON): In order to construct the country’s first liquid oxygen plant, the Nepali PM KP Sharma Oli has virtually laid its foundation stone on Sunday.

Oli said during the virtual inauguration, "As they will be insufficient at the time of a pandemic, the liquid oxygen plant will be important in meeting the deficit in oxygen supplies."

According to the media, Shankar Oxygen Gas Pvt. Ltd, the sole importer of liquid oxygen in Nepal, is setting up its own liquid oxygen plant in the southwestern city of Bhairahawa.

According to the company, the plant will cover an area of 3,716 square meters and will have a production capacity of 60 tons per day.

The excess production could be exported to neighboring countries and used in the industrial sector once the Covid-19 pandemic is over, said Oli.

However, the acknowledgeable step is to be for the best interest of the citizens for some hospitals in Nepal that relied on imported liquid oxygen were forced to resort to bottled oxygen for several days last month after Indian authorities ordered a halt to exports.