The waiver will include import of equipment related to supplying patients – whether due to Covid or otherwise – with oxygen, such as generators, storage tanks, filling systems and concentrators.
The centre has also appointed a nodal officer to deal with the customs clearance issues.
This, the centre said, would “boost availability of these items, as well as make them cheaper”.
India currently has two Covid vaccines, both of which are produced domestically. Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech makes Covaxin and Pune-based Serum Institute manufactures Covishield.
A third – Russia’s Sputnik V – has been cleared and will be made by Hyderabad’s Virchow Biotech.
Faced with an avalanche of criticism over poor planning and lack of necessary infrastructure, this is the Prime Minister’s third Covid-related meeting in the past three days.
On Friday he met with reps from oxygen manufacturers to discuss production and transportation. The day before he spoke to government officials to increase domestic production of medical oxygen.
On Tuesday, the Prime Minister, in a televised address to the nation, acknowledged the sharp increase in demand for oxygen, and said the government was working to ensure its availability.
The oxygen crisis – precipitated by an avalanche of infections over the past month – has snowballed over the past 72 hours, with multiple hospitals across India red-flagging fast-depleting stocks.
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