India aims to ramp up its medical oxygen production capacity to 15,000 tonnes per day before a potential third wave of coronavirus infections that is expected to hit the country as soon as mid-September, an industry executive has said.

The target implies a 50 per cent jump from the maximum output of almost 10,000 tonnes reached earlier this year during the peak of the second Covid-19 wave, when hospitals ran short of the gas and relatives of patients had to search out oxygen cylinders, according to a Reuters report.

Moloy Banerjee, head of Linde South Asia, said that while the government is targeting 15,000 tonnes of medical oxygen per day, Linde and other manufacturers were hoping to hit production of at least 13,500 tonnes per day ahead of the third wave.