What does India's 2021 medical oxygen crisis reveal about oxygen supply chain vulnerabilities?

What does India's 2021 medical oxygen crisis reveal about oxygen supply chain vulnerabilities?
India's crisis exposed a classic mismatch: production capacity versus distribution infrastructure. Daily medical oxygen demand spiked to 8,000 tonnes, while total supply, including industrial oxygen, was only 7,100 tonnes. Even steel plants, which generate oxygen as a byproduct, could theoretically supply over 30,000 tonnes daily, but redirecting that to medical use requires purification, liquefaction, and transport—bottlenecks that proved fatal. The crisis also highlighted that storage tanks and cylinders, not just production, are critical. China's Wuhan response succeeded because of integrated planning: steel giant Baowu's gas plants provided 230 tonnes/day, and temporary pipelines were installed quickly. India lacked such coordination, and its plans to add 1,540 tonnes of capacity took at least six months to materialize.