NEW DELHI, Apr 25 (NNN-PTI) – The Indian government, yesterday decided to exempt basic customs duty, on imports of COVID-19 vaccines, medical grade oxygen, for a period of three months, said a senior official.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting, chaired by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, to review steps taken to boost oxygen availability in the country.
Over the past few days, several COVID-19 speciality hospitals, in different parts of the country, have been facing an acute shortage of oxygen. In some cases, patients even died due to shortage of oxygen.
According to a statement issued by the federal finance ministry, the prime minister emphasised that, there was an immediate need to augment the supply of medical grade oxygen, as well as, equipment required for patient-care, both at home and in hospitals.
According to the health ministry, India witnessed historical high figures, both in daily confirmed COVID-19 cases and new deaths yesterday, as 346,786 more infections and 2,624 deaths were reported. The total tally has reached 16,610,481, and the death toll increased to 189,544.– NNN-PTI
