Exclusive: India's oxygen crisis to ease by mid-May, output to jump 25% - executive

FILE PHOTO: Empty cryogenic tankers are seen onboard the bogie open military new (BOMN) wagon before being transported to a Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) plant from another state for refilling with liquid oxygen, amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), on the outskirts of Mumbai, India, April 19, 2021. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File Photo

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's severe medical oxygen supply crisis is expected to ease by mid-May, a top industry executive told Reuters, with output rising by 25% and transport infrastructure ready to cope with a surge in demand caused by a dramatic rise in coronavirus cases.

Dozens of hospitals in cities such as New Delhi and Mumbai have run short of the gas this month, sending relatives of patients scrambling for oxygen cylinders, sometimes in vain.