Oxygen crisis: Elgi cranks up capacity to supply air compressors

21 May 2021

CHENNAI: Air compressor maker Elgi Equipments has cranked up its capacity to supply air compressors to oxygen generators in view of oxygen scarcity during the second wave of Covid-19.

Jairam Varadaraj, MD, Elgi Equipments, said, "We are a key player in oxygen supplies because the compressor is a key requirement for an oxygen generation plant. Our on-time performance on aggressive deliveries has been more than 100% and we are diverting all attention towards this as a social responsibility. For the specified models in demand for oxygen requirement we have increased production capacity by 2x to 3x. These large oxygen generators are being sent to big hospitals but the government is now looking at smaller generators to equip rural infrastructure."

In terms of oxygen supply to hospitals, bulk of the supply is through cylinders. "Before the second wave, the percentage of hospitals that had their own O2 generation capacity was less than 10%. Now there is a move towards creating independent oxygen generation capacity in hospitals and this will happen in next 3-4 months," he added.

Elgi Equipments, he said, is "trying to push hard from various vendors to increase production." Currently 10-15% of the company's revenue comes from the oxygen sector.

The company recorded standalone PAT for Q4FY21 at Rs 48.85 crore compared to Rs 42 crore in the same period in 2019-20. The standalone PAT for the year was Rs 105 crore compared to Rs 100.42 crore in 2019-20. The board has recommended a dividend of Re.0.80 per share (80%) for the year 2020-21.