Empty oxygen cylinders are stacked in a facility at Naidu Hospital in Pune, Maharashtra, India, May 6 2021. Picture: DHIRAJ SINGH/BLOOMBERG
Higher prices and growing demand in the healthcare sector — where Linde supplies equipment and medical gases including oxygen for Covid-19 patients — helped its sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa jump 10% in the first quarter. “We've deployed about 1,200 drivers on the road, serving about 1,000 hospitals in the country,” he added.