Coronavirus Outbreak: Bharti Enterprises pledges over Rs 100 crore to support India's fight against COVID-19

New Delhi: Bharti Enterprises has committed over Rs 100 crore to support India’s fight against COVID-19, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

A large portion of the corpus will be immediately contributed to the PM CARES Fund.

The balance amount is being directed towards sourcing of masks and other key equipment for the doctors, healthcare workers and essential services personnel who are at the forefront of the battle, the statement said, adding that over a million N-95 masks are being procured and will be made available on an immediate basis.

“Bharti Enterprises and its companies Bharti Airtel, Bharti Infratel and others are contributing a sum of over Rs 100 crore for India’s fight against COVID-19,” the statement said.

Pointing to the “extremely challenging times” and “biggest healthcare crisis of modern era in the form of COVID-19 epidemic”, the company said that the immediate priority is to collectively support the efforts of the government to mitigate the impact of this crisis.

In addition to the Rs 100 crore committed by Bharti Enterprises, the employees of the company are also making personal voluntary contributions towards the cause through a platform created by the company.

“Bharti companies will match the amount contributed by their employees, and the same will be contributed towards the COVID-19 initiatives,” it said.

Airtel’s network teams continue to work 24X7 to ensure that India’s digital backbone continues to operate seamlessly and people stay connected with their loved ones and are able to work from home at this hour of global crisis, it added.

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Corporate India has been rushing in to help the government and citizens fight the coronavirus pandemic in India.

On Monday, Reliance Industries announced Rs 500 crore contribution to PM CARES Fund.

Tata Trusts and Tata group together have pledged Rs 1,500 crore - by far the highest by any corporate.

While Paytm will contribute Rs 500 crore to PM’s 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. An equal amount has been committed by HUL, PhonePe and Bajaj Group.

ITC has pledged Rs 50 crore. Torrent Group will contribute Rs 50 crore towards PM CARES Funds 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.