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.
Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries on Monday announced that it would be donating Rs 500 crore to the PM-CARES Fund, on top of providing 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 24x7, 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. RIL is India’s largest private-sector company.
Infosys Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Infosys, on Monday also announced a Rs 100 crore donation to the fund. Vedanta, the Bajaj Group, the Adani Foundation and the JSW Group also donated Rs 100 crore each to PM-CARES. Hero Cycles and Hindustan Unilever each committed Rs 100 crore to support communities affected by the coronavirus.
Larsen & Toubro announced a Rs 150 crore donation, as well as an outlay of Rs 500 crore per month to support over 1.6 lakh contract workers with regular wages that they cannot earn otherwise during the lockdown, as well as supplying them with food and basic amenities.
Paytm announced that they were aiming to donate Rs 500 crore to the fund, adding that when donations are made through Paytm, they would contribute an extra Rs 10 for every transaction made using Paytm Wallet/UPI/Paytm Bank Debit Cards.
Kotak Mahindra Bank and its MD Uday Kotak announced a Rs 25 crore donatino each to the PM-CARES fund. The bank also commiited Rs 10 crore support to the Maharshtra Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.
Companies have also donated to other funds, or set up their own. TVS Motor Company said they would donate Rs 25 crore to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund (PMRF). ITC chairman Sanjiv Puri announced that the company was setting up a COVID-19 contingency fund
In addition, Tata Trusts and Tata Sons had earlier committed a total of Rs 1,500 crore of funding to buy personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers as well as respiratory systems, ventilators, testing kits and helping set up modular treatment facilities and related activities.
On Sunday, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs clarified that donations made to PM-CARES would count under corporate social responsibility spending (CSR). Under the companies act, corporate entities with net worth over Rs 500 crore of whose revenues exceed Rs 1,000 crore, or net profit
