COVID-19: L&T to donate PPEs, N95 masks, other medical equipments

New Delhi, Apr 17 () To help India fight against COVID-19 pandemic, Larsen & Toubro will provide medical aid worth Rs 40 crore comprising of PPEs, N95 masks, diagnostic kits and other medical equipments, a top company official said on Friday.

This will be in addition to the Rs 500 crore provision per month by the engineering giant for providing support to 160,000 contract labour spread across the country and donation of Rs 150 crore to the PM-CARES Fund announced on March 30.

The company will provide 45,000 PPEs, 151,000 N95 masks and 155 diagnostic kits. The value of the medical aid to combat deadly coronavirus is estimated at about Rs 40 crore.

"As a responsible corporate citizen, we are providing the PPEs, diagnostic kits, N95 masks and critical hospital equipment including ventilators that will be helpful in effectively combating the pandemic", SN Subrahmanyan, CEO & MD, Larsen & Toubro told .

The conglomerate plans to donate Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to various healthcare organisations under State governments of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Telangana.

It plans to donate 151,000 N-95 masks to health agencies in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, he said.

The company has already handed over 100 semi fowler beds with matresses, 2 ventilators, 7 bipap ventilators and 20 multiparameter monitors to Tamil Nadu Health Department-run The King Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research, Chennai.

The institute will further receive 8 ventilators from L&T shortly, he said adding, the company also plans to donate 12 ventilators for state health authorities in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

L&T is sourcing 155 make-in-India test kits - capable of conducting 15,500 tests - developed by Pune-based molecular diagnostic company, Mylab Discovery Solutions to be donated to Central government and state governments.

Each kit can conduct 100 tests and is capable of detecting infection in 2.5 hours as opposed to other imported kits that take longer duration.

The move assumes significance in the wake of shortage of testing kits and short supplies of equipment.

As the daily wage earners are facing problems during the lockdown, L&T has also provided grocery kits to 1,966 families and cooked meals were provided to 8,000 people in Mumbai through its NGO partners.

Also, the company is providing 2,000 meals per day for 2 weeks to doctors, sanitation workers, stranded families in public hospitals in Chennai, as per information.

Additionally, 20,000 meals are being provided to migrant workers and labourers in the state capital of Tamil Nadu. NAM DRR