The Central government on Tuesday said 38 medical institutions across 31 states have benefitted due to the effective allocation of Covid-19 relief supplies from the global community. The Centre said it also listed out each and every medical institution that has benefited from the supplies.
In a statement, the Central government said that the global community has extended a helping hand in supporting efforts in this collective fight against the global pandemic. The Centre said medical equipment, medicines, oxygen concentrators and ventilators are being provided by many countries.
The Centre said a streamlined mechanism for allocation of support supplies received by India has been put into place for effective distribution of the medical and other relief and support material.
The host countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, UAE, France, Thailand and Taiwan have been helping India in its fight against the second wave of Covid-19.
The Centre confirmed that as many as 24 different categories of items numbering nearly 40 lakhs have been distributed to 86 institutions across states.
The Centre said major categories of equipment include BiPAP Machines, oxygen (Oxygen Concentrators, Oxygen Cylinders, PSA Oxygen Plants, Pulse Oximeters), drugs (Favipiravir and Remdesivir) and PPE (Coveralls, N-95 masks and gowns).
The States/UTs which have either received or where the equipment has been dispatched are Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Dadra Nagar Haveli, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Ladakh, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
In addition to faster clearance, Indian customs has waived basic customs duty and health cess on goods identified for battling Covid. When imported free of cost and distributed freely, based on the state govt. certification, IGST is also waived. For import of oxygen concentrators for personal use, IGST has been reduced from 28% to 12%.
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A cell was also created in the Ministry under Additional Health Secretary to coordinate the receipt and allocation of foreign Covid-19 relief material as grants, aid and donations. The cell has started functioning on April 26, 2021.