In the wake of the Covid19 pandemic, and the urgent need felt to move oxygen in sufficient quantity, at a short notice, from surplus areas to deficit areas, it was felt necessary to give permission to ISO containers to move liquid oxygen for domestic transport.

Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), M/o Commerce and Industry, has given permission to the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) to introduce ISO Tank Containers for movement of Liquid Oxygen for domestic transport.

Amid Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19) pandemic, the movement of oxygen within the country through the ISO containers shall greatly enhance the translocation of safe and fast movement of oxygen through road network.

The proposal to introduce ISO Tank Containers for domestic movement was initiated by DPIIT after a consultation meeting with cryogenic oxygen manufacturers. A stakeholder consultation was also carried out. This permission has been given for one year initially to expeditiously deal with the emergent situation.

In this context, Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization (PESO) has devised the module for receipt of online applications from the stake holders to expeditiously grant the permissions for ISO Tank Containers for oxygen.

ISO Tank is a tank container built to the ISO standard (International Organisation for Standardisation). ISO tanks are designed to carry liquids in bulk. The tank is made of stainless steel and is surrounded by various types of protective layers.ISO tanker can carry 20 MT of liquid oxygen. Since they can carry huge amount of Oxygen at one go, ISO containers will help to translocate sufficient Oxygen to areas where required.

ISO tank container permission enables domestic liquid oxygen movement with expedited online approvals for emergency response. Authorisation allows regulatory approval for use of ISO Tank Containers for domestic movement of liquid oxygen to expedite large volume, safe road transport during the COVID 19 emergency; the permission is time limited for one year and is supported by stakeholder consultation and an expedited online application module for granting permissions.