NEW DELHI, Mar 30: Billionaire Mukesh Ambani on Monday gave an additional Rs 500 crore to the Prime Minister CARES Fund on top of the multi-crore initiative of the country’s first COVID-19 hospital as he leads the Indian industry in pledging resources to fight the crisis.
Ambani’s Reliance Industries said that besides donating Rs 500 crore to the the PM-CARES Fund, it will also provide Rs 5 crore each to the governments of Maharashtra and Gujarat to support their fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
These are in addition to the 100-bedded dedicated coronavirus hospital in Mumbai, manufacturing 1 lakh protective face masks per day, 50 lakh free meals to the needy through non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and fuel to emergency vehicles carrying Covid-19 patients.
“RIL also continues its 24×7, multi-pronged, on-the-ground effort to do its bit to ensure the nation remains prepared, fed, supplied, safe, connected and motivated to fight and win against the unprecedented challenges brought upon by the coronavirus pandemic,” the company said in a statement.
The firm said it has already deployed the strengths of the Reliance Family on this action plan against coronavirus, and that RIL and its team have stepped up across cities and villages and pressed additional capabilities into the service of the nation.
“We are confident that India will conquer the coronavirus crisis sooner rather than later. The entire Reliance Industries Ltd team is with the nation in this hour of crisis and will do everything to win this battle against Covid-19,” Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Ltd, said.
Nita Ambani, founder chairperson of Reliance Foundation, said, “As the nation comes together to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, all of us at Reliance Foundation stand in solidarity with our countrymen and women, especially those on the front-lines to whom we pledge our full support. Our doctors and staff have helped set up India’s first Covid-19 hospital and are committed to supporting the government in exhaustive screening, testing, prevention, and treatment of Covid-19.”
The need of the hour is to support marginalised and daily wage communities, she said adding that “through our meal distribution programme, we aim to feed lakhs of people daily across the country.”
Earlier this month, Reliance had announced a host of measures to aid with the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, including continued pay to temporary workers, setting up a dedicated Covid-19 hospital and ramping up face-mask production.
Corporate India has been rushing in to help the government and citizens fight the Covid-19 pandemic in India. Tata Trusts and Tata group together have pledged Rs 1,500 crore.
While Paytm will contribute Rs 500 crore to the PM’s CARES Fund, L&T and NMDC have contributed Rs 150 crore each. Firms or philanthropy arms of billionaires Gautam Adani, Anil Agarwal and Sajjan Jindal have each contributed Rs 100 crore and so has an equal amount committed by HUL, PhonePe, Torrent Group and Bajaj Group.
ITC has pledged Rs 50 crore. Torrent Group will contribute Rs 50 crore towards the PM-CARES Fund and an equivalent amount for other initiatives such as providing medicines to government hospitals.
Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank and its Managing Director Uday Kotak announced a Rs 60-crore donation. Asian Paints has chipped in Rs 35 crore, TVS Motors Rs 25 crore and LNJ Bhilwara Group Rs 5.51 crore. IIFL has committed Rs 5 crore. Dalmia Bharat Group has contributed Rs 25 crore.
Reliance said its funded foundation built India’s first 100-bed exclusive Covid-19 hospital in just two weeks to handle Covid-19 patients.
Also, 50 lakh free meals will be fed to the needy across the country in the next 10 days across the nation, which will be scaled up rapidly to more meals and newer areas, the statement said adding that one lakh masks daily are being made for health-workers and care givers besides thousands of PPEs daily for health-workers and care givers.
“Jio is seamlessly connecting nearly 40 crore individuals and thousands and thousands of organisations daily on its telecom backbone via ‘work from home’, ‘study from home’ and ‘health from home’ initiatives, helping to keep the country going,” it said. “Reliance Retail is providing essential supplies daily for millions of Indians via stores and home deliveries.”
“This is RIL’s overall commitment to the nation, in addition to appropriate financial assistance from time to time. The company and its employees will be in the nation’s service daily, as an efficient support machinery for the millions of forces in the frontline — India’s doctors, nurses, health workers and care givers, government officials, police and peace keeping forces, the transport and essential supply providers and the crores of Indian citizens who are staying at home to contribute to this fight,” it added.
RIL said it remains committed to supporting India’s response to the Covid-19 challenge and will continue to build up its support till the challenge is overcome. (PTI)
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