Indian industry is busy in making masks, sanitisers, testing kits and Ventilators and also contributing funds, many Indian companies have united to help citizens and government fight the Covid-19 outbreak in the country.
Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has also pledged to support the people and government in fighting the novel coronavirus crisis.
It announced via a press release that Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital in collaboration with the BMC has set up a dedicated 100-bedded centre at Seven Hills Hospital in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
The HN Reliance Foundation Hospital has also offered to set up medical facilities to quarantine travellers from other countries. It has also offered initial support of Rs 5 crore to the Maharashtra Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. In addition, Reliance Foundation will provide free meals to people across various cities in partnership with NGOs during the crisis situation. The company announced that it is enhancing production capacities to produce 1,00,000 face masks a day along with a large number of other protective equipment to help health workers and medical professionals. It will also help in providing a communication hub for all lessons in a school year, with free storage available for individuals and teams. Apart from that, Reliance also announced free fuel for all emergency service vehicles in the country. Reliance Retail has also announced longer hours from 7 am to 11 pm at its outlets for customers. Whereas, the Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma announced that the company is going to commit Rs 5 crore for development of medical solutions to fight Covid-19.
HIGHLIGHTS
- #RIL has announced detailed measures to join fight against coronavirus
- # Even smaller companies are offering masks, sanitisers and other essential supplies to prevent shortage
- # Several major global companies are also taking widescale measures to help respective governments tackle the Covid-19 pandemic
- #Several companies from across sectors are pitching in to help the government and citizens fight the Covid-19 pandemic in India.
- # Diageo India has pledged to produce around 3,00,000 litres of bulk hand sanitiser across 15 of its manufacturing units in the country to help cope with the demand for the product.
- #The Mahindra Group chairman explores options to make ventilators at Mahindra manufacturing facilities, contributes 100% of his salary towards a fund to fight COVID-19
- # Vedanta Resources Limited CEO Anil Agarwal also committed Rs 100 crore towards fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.
- # Hero Cycles has set up a Rs 100 crore contingency fund to tackle the virus.
- # Sugar factories are also making the hand sanitizers from the bi-products.
Commenting on the contribution , Pankaj Munjal, HMC Chairman and MD, said, “As an organization that stands for the principles of business with a humane approach, we are allocating Rs 100 crore as a contingency fund to help the entire ecosystem around our organization survive this crisis. We are also reaching out to different state governments to offer all possible help.”
Mahindra and Mahindra is planning to immediately start working on making ventilators for Covid-19 patients. Anand Mahindra, the chairman of the group, also announced that Mahindra Holidays resorts will be offered to government as temporary care facilities.
“Our Projects team stands ready to assist the Govt/Army in erecting temporary care facilities,” Mahindra said.
“The Mahindra Foundation will create a fund to assist the hardest hit in our value chain small businesses and the self-employed,” Mahindra added. He said he would contribute 100 per cent of his salary and gradually increase collections in the fund to assist small-scale businesses.
The Godrej Group and other FMCG players like Hindustan Unilever and Patanjali are reducing prices of soaps and hygiene products. They are also ramping up production of such items to fulfil demand.
Chinese tech giant Xiaomi also said on Monday that it will deliver imported N-95 masks and hazmat suits, which it will donate to hospitals across the country to help medical professionals. Manu Jain, Managing Director, Xiaomi India Said.
Icertis, in partnership with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), has decided to contribute Rs 25 lakh to tackle Covid-19.
“Heeding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to celebrate the contributions of essential workers, Icertis in partnership with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), decided to donate a total of 25 lakh, to ensure the safety of doctors, nurses and staff at Naidu Hospital.” It is worth mentioning that Naidu Hospital is Pune’s designated Covid-19 care facility.
Not just big firms but smaller companies are also rapidly joining the fight against Covid-19 as the situation intensifies across the country. Many firms are distributing masks while others are engaged in making sanitisers or providing free meals. More firms are expected to join the fight against coronavirus in India in days to come.
State Bank Of India (SBI) has committed 0.25 per cent of its annual profit to help fight Covid-19. SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar said, “This is a time for the nation to be united. We at SBI will continue our support towards the people and communities of India amidst this critical period in the best possible way.”
DCB Bank has committed Rs 1 crore as part of CSR for intervention and measures to manage the outbreak of COVID-19 in India.”The bank will engage with various agencies and partners to manage the response to Covid-19 in India. It aims to deploy this fund within the next 3 months,” the bank said in a statement.
Leading global companies including Google, Apple, Microsoft and others from various sectors are offering assistance in forms of donations and other measures to help fight the virus pandemic.
The fact that major companies around the world are joining the fight against coronavirus will be a big boost to fund-strapped governments around the world.
