Global and Indian firms are flexing their industrial muscle to help the world’s second-biggest population battle Covid second wave, coming to the rescue of a public health system buckling under the weight of surging infections and deaths. The companies helping the Indian Government in fighting against the Covid second wave are:
1. Google: Google CEO Sundar Pichai last month announced USD 18 million in donations for medical supplies and to help communities in general.
2. Amazon: Amazon has joined the US Chamber of Commerce’s Global Task Force to bring in ventilators to help combat the COVID-19 crisis in India. Amazon had earlier announced that it is sponsoring the supply of 100 ICU ventilator units costing $3.8 million from the US.
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3. Microsoft: The company said it would work to provide India with 1,000 ventilators and 25,000 oxygen concentration devices.
4. Reliance Industries: Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries tweaked manufacturing at its oil refineries to produce over 1,000 tonnes of medical-grade liquid oxygen per day (over 11% of India’s total production), meeting the needs of nearly every one in 10 patients. It has also set up 1,875 hospital beds for free treatment of Covid patients in Jamnagar in Gujarat and Mumbai. Reliance has also airlifted 24 ISO (certified by the International Organization for Standardization) containers for transporting medical-grade liquid oxygen.
5. JSW Steel: India’s largest steelmaker JSW has stopped making some steel products to produce hundreds of tonnes of oxygen for hard-hit areas. It said it was building large COVID care centers around its plants so that they can be serviced via a pipeline.
6. Wipro: Wipro and Azim Premji Foundation converted one IT facility in Pune into a 430-bed intermediary care Covid hospital. Some of its other efforts include humanitarian and healthcare interventions across 29 states and union territories in India with effective outreach and impact on more than 18 million people. Azim Premji was the first business leader in India to sign the Giving Pledge and has committed $21 billion of his wealth to date.
7. Infosys: It has set up a 100 room Covid hospital in Bangaluru in association with Narayana Health, providing free care to the poor.
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8. Cipla: Cipla announced a INR 25 crore fund to support the Indian Government’s efforts to effectively combat the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes a voluntary donation of approximately INR 3 crore from Cipla employees who have stepped forward in this hour of national need.
9. Vedanta: Mining firm Vedanta on Thursday has said it will donate ₹150 crores to help India in its fight against the deadly Covid second wave. Besides, the company has promised to create an additional capacity of 1,000 critical care beds in 10 cities across the country. Each facility will have 100 beds in an air-conditioned tent with full electrical support and designed specifically for COVID care. The critical care facilities will have 90 beds equipped with life-saving oxygen support while the remaining will have ventilator support,” Vedanta said in a press release.
10. Adani Foundation: It has set up hospitals in Gujarat and even converted the Adani Vidya Mandir school in Ahmedabad into an emergency COVID Care Centre with oxygen support and catered food. It has also procured 48 cryogenic tanks from leading manufacturers in countries like Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, and UAE.
11. Tata Group: It has made about 5,000 beds available to Covid patients through its group companies. Tata Group also imported 1,000 cryogenic containers to transport liquid oxygen, supplying 900 tonnes of oxygen every day to state government hospitals.
12. ITC: It has extended financial support for creating a 200-300 bed Covid facility which is being set up by Medica Superspeciality Hospital in Kolkata. The makeshift facility also augmented the vaccination drive of the government. The West Bengal government has permitted the use of Kishore Bharati Stadium in Kolkata for the set-up of this medical facility.
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13. State Bank of India: The State Bank of India (SBI) has allocated ₹71 crores, to undertake various support initiatives to help the country combat the second wave of Covid-19. The Bank has dedicated ₹30 crores to set up 1,000-bed makeshift hospitals, 250 bed ICU facilities, and 1,000-bed isolation facilities across some of the worst-hit states.
14. Coal India Ltd: It has set up the largest number of Covid beds totaling 2,000, including 750 oxygen and 70 ICU beds. Coal India has also committed to installing 2 oxygen generating plants through its subsidiaries.
15. Tech Mahindra: It has supplied medical equipment, including ventilators, to over 20 hospitals.
16. L&T Group: It has committed to supplying 22 oxygen generators to needy hospitals across India.
17. Walmart: The company has said it will donate 20 oxygen generating plants and 20 cryogenic containers for storage and transportation of oxygen to hospitals and NGOs. The company also pledged to donate 3,000 oxygen concentrators and 500 oxygen cylinders to India.
