Orange Oxygen plans 2 more centres in Hyd

There are some who seem to be taking advantage of the increasingly noxious fumes that we breathe in our cities. Orange Oxygen Centre, Andhra Pradesh's first and only private oxygen bar, is slated to open two more oxygen centres in Hyderabad at an estimated cost of Rs 1 crore.

Speaking to Business Standard, Sunil Bhandari, consulting orthopedic surgeon and managing director of Orange Oxygen Centre, said: "With oxygen levels in the atmosphere depleting to an alarmingly low level of about 19 per cent due to the increasing population and pollution, the demand for 100 per cent pure oxygen has also been increasing. Hence, we have decided to open two more centres in Hyderabad "� one each at Banjara Hills and Dilsukhnager "� at an estimated cost of Rs 1 crore by 2005.

The company is also set to expand through the franchisee route. "We have also been receiving enquiries for franchisees from Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada. We are at present studying the feasibility of setting up centres there," Bhandari pointed out.

"Prax Air, a US-based company has been supplying 100 per cent oxygen to our centre. Now that we are planning to open two more centres in the city, we are also planning to acquire an 'Oxygenerator' that generates 100 per cent pure oxygen in a couple of months," he said.

Orange Oxygen Centre was established in October 2001. Multi-specialty hospitals including Apollo Hospitals, Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) and Mediciti have been utilising the services of the centre for faster recovery of patients after major surgeries.

Bhandari said that the hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is a proven medical treatment for a number of specific health problems that include decompression sickness, burns, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, migraine headaches, and radiation damage.

"Orange Oxygen Centre offers two kinds of therapies "� one through the Rs 55-lakh worth Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber (HOC) imported from Florida, in which the patient enters a closed chamber for treatment, and the other one is through the Moskh Chamber, where six clients are seated together," he said.