Chennai, May 17 (IANS): Even as it is sorting out the teething problems in its oxygen production in Thoothukudi-based Sterlite Copper, Vedanta Ltd has called for Expressions of Interest (EoI) for a solution to transport about 800 ton per day (tpd) of gaseous oxygen to hospitals.

According to a company official, the oxygen plant again became operational on Sunday.

Vedanta said its oxygen unit at Sterlite Copper has a total installed capacity of 1,050 tpd and the existing infrastructure has the potential to transport 200-250 tpd medical oxygen to various hospitals.

To utilise the balance capacity of the unit for the medical usage, it is looking for business partners to study and provide a solution to transport 800 tpd oxygen which is available in gaseous form at 4.5 bar pressure to various hospitals in the state.

Vedanta had started oxygen production at Sterlite Copper recently to supply to hospitals to meet the needs due to the spread of Covid-19 pandemic across the country.

However, the oxygen plant got into technical problems and production was halted.

The Tamil Nadu government had ordered the closure of the copper smelter plant in 2018 following a violent protest that led to the death of 13 persons in police firing.

The Supreme Court had allowed the company to operate its oxygen plant alone recently.

The 400,000 ton Sterlite copper smelter plant that has been operating in Thoothukudi for over 25 years with a cumulative investment of about Rs 3,000 crore.