Electronics companies may take a hit as oxygen crisis sucks nitrogen out

New Delhi:The government’s efforts to mitigate the oxygen crisis that’s affecting Covid-19 patients may cause a shortage of nitrogen, a gas critical for the electronics manufacturing industry.

Nitrogen is required in the manufacture of laptops, data servers, smartphones and printed circuit boards (PCBs), which are at the heart of every electronic device.

The Centre directed 11 states this week to convert 353 tankers that transport 50% of India’s nitrogen capacity into oxygen carriers, disrupting nitrogen supplies to electronics factories. To augment oxygen supply to hospitals, the government has identified 214 argon and 353 nitrogen tankers to carry 7,500 metric tonnes of oxygen, cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba said in a letter to the states.