Vedanta pledges Rs 150 crore, SBI allocates Rs 71 crore for Covid-19 relief

India’s largest mining and non-ferrous metals company Vedanta Resources pledged Rs 150 crore towards the fight against the covid-19 pandemic, while the country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) allocated Rs 71 crore.

The fight for ICU beds, enough oxygen cylinders, medical drugs, and other Covid essentials have become increasingly daunting. To support the over-burdened medical infrastructure, Vedanta has initiated a relief programme to set up field hospitals that will provide 1,000 specially equipped critical care beds in 10 cities across the country.

“We stand in solidarity with the people of India and the government at this difficult time. We hope that the 1,000-bed initiative covering 10 cities helps relieve the burden on our healthcare infrastructure,” Anil Agarwal, Chairman of Vedanta Resources was quoted as saying in a video message.

The company had contributed Rs 201 crore in 2020 after the outbreak of Covid-19 in India.

Meanwhile, from SBI’s total allocated donation, Rs 30 crore will be used to construct a make-shift 1,000-bed hospital for treatment of Covid patients in the worst-hit states. The remaining Rs 21 crore will be utilized to support initiatives such as procurement of life-saving healthcare equipment, oxygen supply to hospitals, Covid-care centers, ambulances, PPE kits, masks as well as food relief efforts.

Apart from this, Rs 10 crore each will be used to collaborate with NGOs to address the community and help supplement government efforts in genome sequencing.

For the make-shift hospital, SBI will collaborate with government hospitals and municipal corporations of the worst-hit cities due to the pandemic. The national bank has also tied up with several hospitals to vaccinate its staff and dependent family members.

SBI converted 60 training centers into isolation wards for the treatment of its staff and family members. It will also bear the cost of vaccination for all the employees.