Coronavirus: RIL donates ₹5 crore to Maharashtra CM relief fund

MUMBAI: Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) on Monday said it has provided an initial support of ₹5 crore to the Maharashtra Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to help tackle the Covid-19 outbreak.

The company also said it is boosting production capacities to produce 100,000 face-masks daily and a large number of personal protective equipment (PPE), such as suits and garments, for the country's health workers to help them in their fight against the challenge posed by the pandemic.

India has now 425 confirmed cases, with death toll at eight. World over, 349,211 people have been infected by the novel coronavirus, which was first reported in China's Wuhan in December, with death toll at 15,308.

In a statement, RIL said it has initiated a multi-pronged prevention, mitigation, and ongoing support strategy. "This approach can be ramped up further to scale as required by the nation. RIL has deployed the combined strengths of Reliance Foundation, Reliance Retail, Jio, Reliance Life Sciences, Reliance Industries, and all the 6,00,000 members of the Reliance Family on this action plan against COVID-19," said the oil-to-telecom conglomerate.

RIL's Sir H. N. Reliance Foundation Hospital in collaboration with Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), has also set up a dedicated 100-bed centre at Seven Hills Hospital in Mumbai for patients who test positive for Covid-19.

Reliance Foundation will provide free meals to people across various cities in partnership with NGOs and has built a fully-equipped isolation facility in Lodhivali, Maharashtra, and handed it over to district authorities.

"Reliance Life Sciences, an RIL subsidiary, is importing additional test kits and consumables for effective testing. Our doctors and researchers are also working overtime to find a cure for this deadly virus," RIL said.

The company added that its retail arm Reliance Retail's all 736 grocery stores across the country will ensure sufficient supply of essentials, including staples, fruits and vegetables, bread, breakfast cereals and other items of daily use, so that citizens need not stock up. Grocery stores will be open for longer hours - from 7 am to 11 pm - wherever possible.