India Inc to the rescue! How Tata, RIL, Adani & others are helping fight Covid-19

India's corporate class is supplying oxygen, arranging for hospital beds, donating funds and vaccinating their employees under the corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives amid the second wave of coronavirus. Reliance Industries, Adani Group, Tata Sons, Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra and Mahindra, and Hyundai India have also donated funds as well as arranged for supplies of COVID-19 amenities.

Let's take a look at how they are helping India fight Covid-19:

RELIANCE INDUSTRIES

Mukesh Ambani-helmed Reliance Industries has made a long list of contributions during the pandemic. From arranging ICU beds to supplying medical oxygen, RIL has been at the forefront. The company said that when the pandemic began it had zero production of medical-grade liquid oxygen, which has now been ramped up to 1,000 MT. The company said that this can meet the needs of nearly 1 lakh critically ill patients. "Reliance now produces over 11 per cent of India's total production of medical-grade liquid oxygen, meeting the needs of nearly 1 in 10 patients," it said. The company supplied over 15,000 MT of oxygen free of cost in April. Reliance also organised the airlifting of 24 ISO containers into India from Saudi Arabia, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands and Thailand adding 500 MT of new transportation capacity for liquid Oxygen.

The company made a contribution of 875 beds for COVID-19 patients through the Reliance Foundation. Sir HN Reliance Foundation manages a 650-bed COVID-19 care facility at National Sports Club of India in Worli -- all of whom are treated for free. The foundation along with BMC set up a COVID hospital with 225-bed facility at Seven Hills Hospital. Patients there too receive free treatment.

Last year, the company made a contribution of Rs 500 crore to PM CARES fund, and Rs 5 crore each to Chief Minister's Relief Fund of Maharashtra and Chief Minister's Relief Fund of Gujarat.

Also read: 'You are field commanders of India's battle against Covid-19': PM Modi to district officials

TATA SONS

Tata Group is planning to airlift cryogenic oxygen tankers from overseas. Tata Sons President Infrastructure, Defence & Aerospace and Global Corporate affairs, Banmali Agrawala said that they have identified 60 such containers out of which 14 have already arrived. The conglomerate is also planning to build around 400 oxygen generating units for use in smaller towns. The company said that Tata Steel alone is making 900 MT of oxygen available per day.

The group is looking for local modes and methods for oxygen generation in hospitals, for which it has partnered with DRDO to generate oxygen using pressure swing adsorption (PSA) technology. "Each one of those units is about a 1,000 litre per minute capacity. We will be making 350 to 400 of those, if required we will make more. We have started work on this already. We are hopeful that we should be able to get 80-90 of those done within this month and give it out as quickly as possible," said Agrawala, adding each unit should be able to cater to a 100-bed facility.

Tata has also made beds available for COVID-care through its various firms. For instance, Indian Hotels converted hotels and hotel rooms to make 1,500 beds available for COVID-19 patients, while Tata Trusts have another 1,500 beds with the hospitals they work with. Tata Projects added another 400 odd critical beds through newly built or modified existing hospitals.

The group has also taken a 'senior Tata leader' in each of the locations where the group has a large presence such as Delhi-NCR, East and North East region, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, and Gujarat to co-ordinate and provide all necessary support to the Tata ecosystem.

Tata Sons had pledged Rs 1,500 crore to combat the outbreak of the pandemic in India last year.

The group is also working to support the Elder Care programme by addressing the effects of the pandemic on the elderly. "The Trusts are actively engaged in providing continued support to the elderly by moving the engagement to digital and electronic spheres," stated Tata Trusts.

Also read: COVID-19: Arvind Kejriwal urges Centre to suspend flight services from Singapore

ADANI GROUP

Adani Group donated Rs 114 crore to central and state governments till April 14. The Gautam Adani-helmed conglomerate donated Rs 100 crore to PM CARES fund, while it donated Rs 5 crore each to Gujarat CM Relief Fund and Kerala CM Relief Fund. It donated Rs 2 crore to Andhra Pradesh CM Relief Fund and Rs 1 crore each to Maharashtra CM Relief Fund and Jharkhand CM Relief Fund. Apart from that, Rs 4 crore was donated by Adani employees, which was matched by Adani Foundation to amount to Rs 8 crore.

Adani Group along with Iskcon Dwarka contributed Rs 50 lakh to feed around 1 lakh underprivileged people in Delhi

The company provided 100 ventilators to the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, while it donated 10,000 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits to the government of India.

Also read: Dependents of Covid-19 victims can claim Rs 7 lakh insurance from EPFO

HYUNDAI INDIA

The philanthropic arm of Hyundai Motor India, Hyundai Motor India Foundation (HMIF) announced its CSR Project 'Back-to-life' that ensures uninterrupted delivery of medical oxygen equipment to the most affected states including New Delhi, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Telangana. The foundation has expedited purchase of medical equipment to provide assistance to government hospitals. Medical oxygen, oxygen concentrators, high flow oxygen plants, high flow nasal oxygen machines and BiPap ventilator machines.

HMIF plans to provide 700 oxygen concentrators, 10 high flow oxygen plants, 200 high flow nasal oxygen machines and 225 BiPap ventilator machines.

HMIF announced a relief package of Rs 20 crore to combat the current second wave of the pandemic, while it had previously committed Rs 30 crore to help affected states. The foundation donated Rs 7 crore to PM CARES Relief Fund while it donated Rs 5 crore to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Relief Fund. It gave imported diagnostic test kits worth Rs 4 crore and entered into a strategic partnership with Air Liquide Medical Systems to augment production and supply of 1,000 ventilators. It distributed PPEs, masks and other safety kits in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Haryana.

Its 'Satellite Clinics' and Mobile Medical Units: 'Mobile Chikitsa' reached out to remote regions in the country in the form of a mobile primary healthcare unit with a doctor onboard. It claims to have helped 5,000 patients in four months.

Also read: DRDO's anti-COVID drug 2-DG launched; check out efficacy, price, dosage

MARUTI SUZUKI

Maruti Suzuki India and Zydus Group started a multi-speciality hospital in Sitapur in Gujarat's Ahmedabad that has been converted into a COVID-19 care centre amid the pandemic. The hospital, made with total expenditure of Rs 126 crore, has been fully funded by the Maruti Suzuki Foundation. The hospital is expected to serve 3.75 lakh people residing in Sitapur, Becharaji, Mandal, Mehsana, Patan, Viramgam and nearby districts. It has an integrated residential facility with 160 dormitory occupancy and 20 two-BHK flats for staff.

Maruti Suzuki has been contributing masks, PPE kits and other essentials. The company contributed 10,000 metres of cotton cloth to District Administration of Gurugram for production of 1.5 lakh face masks. The cloth was provided to women self help groups. The company also made an arrangement with AgVa Healthcare to scale up production of ventilators to reach a volume of 10,000 units per month. MSIL also plans to provide 2 million masks free of cost to Haryana and central governments as a joint venture with Ashok Kapur, Chairman of Krishna Group. The first batch of 2 lakh masks were handed over to the Gurugram administration. As many as 2 lakh triple-ply masks were donated to Rohtak administration.

Additionally, MSIL gave 50 ventilators to Haryana government. The company has committed 10,000 hazmat suits to the Haryana government out of wish 2,500 suits were given to DC Gurugram.

Also read: COVID-19 second wave: India loses 269 doctors so far; Bihar, UP, Delhi report most casualties

MAHINDRA AND MAHINDRA

The auto giant started 'Oxygen on Wheels' for swift supply of oxygen in Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Chakan, Nasik, Nagpur, Delhi and Mohali. As many as 150 vehicles are delivering 1,000-1,400 oxygen cylinders a day. Portable oxygen kits were provided to emergency cab services ALYTE. Tech Mahindra is also aiming to deliver 3,000 oxygen concentrators and 40,000 cylinders to critical patients kept in home isolation under their Oxygen For India initiative.

PPE kits, N95 masks, hand sanitisers, 3-ply masks, face shields, surgical gloves were distributed for frontline workers in Maharashtra, while sanitisation machines were given to Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) and Nagpur Police. Grocery kits were distributed to unemployed domestic workers, widows, communities in the vicinity of Kandivali plant and cooked meals were provided in Nagpur. Vaccine carriers and digital thermometers were donated to the Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Kunnavakkam village in Tamil Nadu. 

All tractor purchases in May 2021 are covered with M-Protect COVID Plan. A COVID-19 Mediclaim policy with home quarantine benefits, with a health cover of Rs 1 lakh, pre-approved loan benefits to cover COVID-19 medical expenses, and Mahindra Loan Suraksha securing the loan in case of fatality are offered under this plan.

Also read: Recovery momentum in automotive sector to decelerate: ICRA

ITC

ITC airlifted 24 cryogenic ISO containers of 20 tonnes each from Asian countries in collaboration with Linde India. The Sanjiv Puri-helmed company's Paperboards unit in Telangana stepped in to supply oxygen in government hospitals. As much as 100 MT have been supplied so far. ITC is also setting up three facilities in three states with total 600 beds for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

The company is also procuring 22 PSA oxygen generators through imports. Over 1,000 oxygen concentrators are also in various stages of procurement. Some of ITC's Welcomhotels are offering quarantine facilities to asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic patients. The company distributed food, beverages and sanitation products in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra as part of its in-kind relief support. PPE kits and masks are also being distributed in UP, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar and Punjab to frontline medical and other workers

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