Mukesh Ambani’s RIL has mega plans to fight coronavirus, with the conglomerate planning to deploy the capacity of all its arms including Reliance Retail, Jio and Reliance Foundation to help the government. While Reliance Industries Ltd. will make a donation of Rs 5 crore to Maharashtra government’s relief fund, it has also announced that it will gear up production of face masks and safety suits for the workers of the country. “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,” the company said in a statement.
The Mukesh Ambani-led company will ramp up production capacity of face masks to 100,000 per day as the health workers struggle in the country to get right equipment. RIL also said that it will provide free fuel to emergency vehicles carrying Covid-19 patients and free meals in various cities to support the livelihood of those impacted by the outbreak.
Under the Reliance Foundation, the company has built India’s first Covid-19 hospital with BMC and has set up 100 bedded center at Seven Hills Hospital, Mumbai. It has also built isolation facility in Lodhivali, Maharashtra.
As a part of the company’s plan to make data accessible in the testing times, it has announced that “Jio will provide basic JioFiber connectivity (10 Mbps) … without any service charges,” it said. The company has also said that it will ensure a steady supply of groceries via its Reliance Retail outlets so that citizens don’t need to stock up. Several incidents of panic buying have occurred in the country as people allegedly stocked up in anticipation of lockdown. “All the 736 grocery stores of Reliance Retail 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,” RIL said.
Several other industrialists have also chipped as the country races to contain the virus. Anand Mahindra, chairman Mahindra and Mahindra group, recently said that the company’s resort business will function as isolation facility. Recently, Vedanta’s Anil Agarwal also pledged Rs 100 crore towards the fight against the deadly coronavirus, which has infected over 400 people so far.
