Industry backs up efforts to contain second wave

New Delhi, May 9: As India suffers the world's worst outbreak of Covid19 cases, global and domestic corporate giants are pitching in resources, from airlifting medical equipment, making medical oxygen and setting up hospitals to supplement a public health system buckling under the weight of surging infections and deaths.

Amazon and Google as well as Indian firms Tata Sons, Reliance Industries Ltd and Adani Group have set up Covid hospitals, airlifted cryogenic tankers from abroad for transporting medical oxygen and contributed funds to aid the Covid battle, going by company announcements and industry sources.

While Google CEO Sundar Pichai last month announced $18 million donation, Amazon said 1,000 Medtronic ventilators will be delivered to India. Microsoft said it would work to provide India with 1,000 ventilators and 25,000 oxygen concentration devices.

Mukesh Ambani-led

Reliance Industries tweaked manufacturing at its oil refineries to produce over 1,000 tonnes of medical grade liquid oxygen per day. It has also set up 1,875 hospital beds for free treatment of Covid patients in Jamnagar in Gujarat and in Mumbai.

India's largest steel maker 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 centres around its plants, so that they can be serviced via a pipeline.

While Wipro and Azim Premji Foundation converted one IT facility in Pune into a 430-bed intermediary care Covid hospital, Infosys has set up a 100-room Covid hospital in Bangaluru in association with Narayana Health, providing free care to the poor.

Cipla supported Maharashtra government in setting up Covid isolation ward, Vedanta is setting up a field hospital in Delhi NCR and Adani Foundation 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.

Tata Group made about 5,000 beds available to Covid patients through its group companies and ITC set up a 200-bed makeshift hospital in Kishore Bharati Stadium for Covid patients in a record 72 hours.

State Bank of India set up 1,000-bed makeshift hospitals, 250-bed ICU facilities and 1,000-bed isolation facilities across the country, while Coal India Ltd set up the largest number of Covid beds totalling 2,000, including 750 oxygen and 70 ICU beds.

Tata Group also imported 1,000 cryogenic containers to transport liquid oxygen, supplying 900 tonnes of oxygen per day to state hospitals.

Tech Mahindra supplied medical equipment to over 20 hospitals and L&T Group committed 22 oxygen generators to needy hospitals.