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Deepak Vishwakarma, The Oxygen Man of India
Profile · oxygenman.in

Deepak
VishwakarmaThe Oxygen Man

A man who chose to run towards a crisis when India ran out of breath. COVID-19 hero. Miyawaki forest pioneer. Times Now Amazing Indians 2025.

COVID Hero · 2021 Miyawaki Pioneer Times Now 2025
Read his full story
Who is he

A man who refused to look the other way.

Deepak Vishwakarma was not born into philanthropy. He built it. From nothing, from conviction, from a belief that the society around him could be better, and that waiting for someone else to fix it was simply not an option he was willing to take.

Growing up in the suburbs of Mumbai, he saw first-hand what it meant to live on the margins: the hunger, the lack of education, the health gaps, the quiet indignity of need going unmet. He carried those observations not as complaints, but as a growing fire of determination. If not him, then who?

"I believe in solving the root cause of our social problems rather than fabricating the existing issues."

Deepak Vishwakarma

In 2015, that conviction became a foundation: Making The Difference (MTD) Charitable Trust, Mira Road. What began as a small group of passionate volunteers has grown into a 9-city movement with 1,100+ volunteers and ₹20 crore+ raised.

But it was not the NGO that gave Deepak Vishwakarma his name. It was a crisis. When India needed someone to step forward, he did not flinch.

The COVID Chapter
Deepak Vishwakarma, Founder MTD NGO Mira Road
Deepak Vishwakarma · Founder & President, MTD NGO · Mira Road, Maharashtra
The defining moment

The day India ran out of oxygen. He ran towards it.

April 2021. India's second COVID-19 wave crashed over Maharashtra like a wave no hospital system was built to bear. ICUs overflowing. Oxygen cylinders dry. Patients dying, not just from the virus, but from the brutal absence of something as basic as air.

Deepak Vishwakarma was watching. And unlike most, he did not watch from behind a locked door.

He converted the full machinery of Making The Difference into an emergency oxygen operation, launching 20 Oxygen Connect Centres across Maharashtra. Placed international orders in Hong Kong, Singapore and China for concentrators. Coordinated 500+ volunteers. Arranged 200+ hospital beds. Ran plasma programs, saving 72 lives directly.

He did all of this without fearing the virus. Without waiting for a government notice. Without calculating what it would cost him.

"We are providing beds, PPE kits, sanitisers, pulse oximeters and oxygen cylinders to all government hospitals in the state. MTD is now able to help nearly everyone in need."

Deepak Vishwakarma · SBS Hindi Interview, May 2021

It was this fearless, relentless, deeply human response that gave the world a name for him. The Oxygen Man of India.

What happened next
20Oxygen Connect Centres launched across Maharashtra
761+Small oxygen cylinders supplied free
250Large cylinders donated to hospitals
500+Volunteers coordinated during the crisis
72Lives saved through plasma coordination
1.75LDry ration kits distributed to families
April 2021
India's oxygen collapses

68,000+ daily cases. Hospital oxygen runs dry. Patients die in corridors.

April–May 2021
He launches 20 Oxygen Centres

761 small + 250 large cylinders free. Concentrators imported from 3 countries.

May 2021
Plasma program · 72 lives saved

Coordinates plasma donors across Maharashtra with critical patients.

2022 onward
The forest mission begins

"If India needed bottled oxygen, I will make sure she grows it permanently."

His philosophy on the name

"Oxygen Man is not a title I wear. It is a weight I carry every morning, a reminder to do something extraordinary for this nation, every single day."

Deepak Vishwakarma
Deepak Vishwakarma · oxygenman.in
His footprint on India

Numbers that define the man.

65,000+Trees PlantedMaharashtra, Rajasthan & Andhra Pradesh
₹20Cr+Funds MobilisedFor social impact since 2015
1,100+VolunteersPeople who answered his call
32,000+Women ImpactedThrough Project Lajja
20O₂ CentresLaunched during COVID crisis
72Lives SavedVia plasma coordination
9CitiesWhere MTD NGO operates
400+ChildrenEducated through GyanDaan
What he's doing right now

He turned COVID's oxygen crisis into India's permanent oxygen.

After the pandemic, Deepak Vishwakarma asked himself: What if India never had to beg for oxygen again? The answer was not in a bottle. It was in the ground.

Deepak Vishwakarma Miyawaki plantation drive
Urban Forestry · The Miyawaki Mission
Turning India's dumpyards into breathing forests.

Using the Japanese Miyawaki technique, 30× denser than conventional planting, self-sustaining in 3 years. Deepak has planted 65,000+ trees across 3 states. Target: 75,000. Every forest starts where others gave up.

Explore the work
Case Study · Indralok, Bhayandar East
28,000 sq ft. 10,500 saplings. 55 native species.

A barren dumping ground transformed in partnership with MBMC under Vanmahotsav 2023. The plastic cleared from the site was recycled into park benches, creating a closed-loop sustainability model.

MBMC PartnershipVanmahotsav 2023
Miyawaki urban forest Indralok Bhayandar
MTD NGO community programs
Beyond the Forest · Human Lives
32,000 women. 400 children. 9 cities.

Women's health through Project Lajja, open schools for children without access, vocational skills for widows. Partners: Maersk, Fiserv, Inorbit, PPFAS, eClerx, GIC, Personiv. Deepak builds people, not just forests.

His journey

One man. Ten years. A movement.

2015
Founded Making The Difference Charitable Trust

Started in Mira Road with a small group of volunteers and one belief: local problems need local champions willing to act.

2015–2020
9 Cities · 1,100+ Volunteers · ₹20Cr+ Raised

Launched Project Lajja, GyanDaan, Kill Hunger, BloodDoNation, Shoonya, and Kinaara. Built one of Maharashtra's most respected NGOs.

2021
COVID Oxygen Hero · "The Oxygen Man of India"

20 Oxygen Connect Centres. International imports. 500+ volunteers. 72 lives saved. Maharashtra gave him a name he would carry forever.

2022–Present
65,000+ Miyawaki Trees Across 3 States

Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh. MBMC partnership. Major CSR: Maersk, Fiserv, PPFAS, eClerx.

August 2025
Times Now Amazing Indians Award 2025

India recognises the Oxygen Man. Environment & Sustainability. New Delhi. The nation sees what Maharashtra knew all along.

How people describe him
Fearless in a crisis.

When India's oxygen ran out, Deepak ran towards the problem. That character comes from conviction, not training.

Root-cause thinker.

He doesn't patch symptoms. He plants forests where others pave roads. He opens schools where others hand out pamphlets.

Builder of people.

1,100+ volunteers. CSR across Maersk, Fiserv, Inorbit, PPFAS. He makes people want to join something bigger.

Relentlessly forward.

The COVID crisis is over. He's already planting the next forest, designing the next school, building the next partnership.

Watch

The documentary that introduced India's Oxygen Man.

How India sees him

A nation recognises its Oxygen Man.

11 August 2025 · New Delhi
Times Now Amazing Indians Award 2025.
Environment & Sustainability · Times Network · Presented by Adani

13 individuals selected from across India. Ceremony in New Delhi in the presence of Union Minister Mansukh Laxmanbhai Mandaviya. Jury: Neerja Birla, Padmaja Ruparel, Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Prasoon Joshi & Ashish Kumar Chauhan.

"This award belongs to every volunteer, partner, and community member who joined hands to make our planet greener. Being called the Oxygen Man is an honour, but the real victory will be when every citizen takes up the responsibility to protect our environment."
Times NetworkEnvironment & SustainabilityNew Delhi 2025
Deepak Vishwakarma national recognition
Governor of Maharashtra

Bhagat Singh Koshiyari. State recognition for COVID oxygen relief and environmental leadership.

Mumbai Mayor

Kishori Pednekar. Recognised for MTD's COVID-19 first responder operations across Mumbai.

Mira-Bhayandar Mayor

Jyotsana Hasnale. His home city recognised him first for building one of India's most effective NGOs.

As seen in
Times NowSBS HindiThe TribuneANI Hindustan MetroBioEnergy TimesSangri Today LoktejFree Press JournalDaily Finance Wire WebIndia123Interviewer PR
In his own words

The philosophy he lives by.

"

Oxygen Man is not a title I wear. It is a weight I carry, a daily reminder that I must do something extraordinary for this society, every single day. Not when it is convenient. Every. Single. Day.

Core philosophy · oxygenman.in
"

I believe in solving the root cause of our social problems rather than fabricating the existing issues.

mtdngo.com
"

The real victory will be when every citizen takes up the responsibility to protect our environment.

Times Now Award acceptance · New Delhi, 2025
"

We are providing beds, PPE kits, sanitisers, pulse oximeters and oxygen cylinders to all government hospitals in the state. MTD is now able to help nearly everyone in need.

SBS Hindi Interview · May 2021 · At the height of India's COVID oxygen crisis
Follow his journey

The mission doesn't stop at this page.

Plantation drives, awards, community work. Deepak shares it all.

LinkedIn

in/mtdfounder

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YouTube

@mtdngo

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Facebook

meet.vishwakarma

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Instagram

@mtdngo

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People ask

About the Oxygen Man of India.

Who is the Oxygen Man of India?
Deepak Vishwakarma is the Oxygen Man of India. During the COVID-19 second wave (2021), he ran 20 Oxygen Connect Centres across Maharashtra, supplied 761 small + 250 large cylinders free of cost, imported concentrators internationally, coordinated 500+ volunteers, and saved 72 lives through plasma programs. He then planted 65,000+ trees using the Miyawaki method and won the Times Now Amazing Indians Award 2025.
Why is Deepak Vishwakarma called the Oxygen Man?
When India's hospitals ran out of oxygen in April 2021, Deepak launched 20 Oxygen Connect Centres, arranged free cylinders, imported concentrators from 3 countries, and mobilised 500+ volunteers, fearlessly, in the middle of the pandemic. Maharashtra called him the Oxygen Man. He then planted 65,000+ trees, India's permanent, natural oxygen supply.
What does "Oxygen Man is not a title, it's a responsibility" mean?
Deepak Vishwakarma says this name is not a crown. It is a daily weight. Every morning it asks him: What extraordinary thing will you do today? It is a commitment to never stop serving and keep going until every Indian can breathe freely.
What is Deepak Vishwakarma doing in 2025?
Deepak is leading the Miyawaki urban forest movement, targeting 75,000 trees after already planting 65,000+. He continues running MTD NGO across 9 cities with 1,100+ volunteers and building CSR collaborations with Maersk, Fiserv, Inorbit, and PPFAS.
What award did Deepak Vishwakarma win?
The Times Now Amazing Indians Award 2025 in Environment & Sustainability. Held on 11 August 2025 in New Delhi, presented by Adani. Union Minister Mansukh Laxmanbhai Mandaviya attended. Jury: Neerja Birla, Padmaja Ruparel, Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Prasoon Joshi, Ashish Kumar Chauhan. One of 13 selected from across India.
How can I connect with Deepak Vishwakarma?
Follow on LinkedIn (in/mtdfounder), YouTube (@mtdngo), Facebook (meet.vishwakarma), Instagram (@mtdngo). Visit mtdngo.com or call 1800-309-3337. Address: Crystal Plaza, Mira Road East, Thane 401107, Maharashtra.