Coronavirus: Vedanta aims to manufacture about 50K PPE per day - YourStory

Vedanta is targeting to indigenously manufacture about 50,000 personal protective equipment every day amid talks of PPE shortage in the country following the coronavirus outbreak.

The company will start manufacturing personal protective equipment (PPE) by the first week of next month, Ritu Jhingon, CEO of Nand Ghar Project, Vedanta Ltd told PTI.

Vedanta has tied up with the Ministry of Textiles to import 23 machines from China for PPE manufacturing within the country.

"These machines will have the capacity of giving up to about 50,000 PPE per day. The production of PPE will start in the first week of May.

"These machines specifically make PPE required for doctors and medicos," she said.

In its fight against the pandemic, she said, the company has also procured two lakh N95 masks.

"Ministry of Textiles and Ministry of Health have reached out to corporates, and corporates like us have responded...We have also got request for N95 masks from Ministry of Health. We have now procured two lakh of these masks," she stressed.

The company has also procured 50,000 PPE, which will be delivered to the Ministry of Health in the next two weeks.

Diversified natural resources firm Vedanta had earlier announced that it has doubled its contribution to Rs 201 crore to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

"Vedanta has contributed Rs 101 crore to the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM-CARES) Fund. It will fund up to Rs 200 crore in providing relief measures to communities at large across the country," the company said in a statement.

This contribution to PM-CARES Fund will complement Vedanta's earlier commitment of creating a Rs 100-crore corpus which is catering to three specific areas – livelihood of the daily wage workers across the nation, preventive health care, support to its employees and contract partners across its plant locations, it said.

"It is our responsibility to make sure that no one dies of hunger. My appeal to the government is to provide migrant labourer at least Rs 8,000 every month for the next three months.

"Government has allowed transportation of essential products; it is also important that dhabas and food stalls on the highways remain open for the truck drivers. We are more than willing to support any initiative in this regard," Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal said.

"It is also important for SMEs and critical industries which contribute to sustain the nation's economy, to work with 25 percent workforce, as they are essential services and are in the continuous process category and they adhere to all norms of safety and hygiene, as prescribed by the World Health Organisation," he added.

In a bid to minimise the impact on especially the poor and marginalised sections, Vedanta is providing meals for all.

"The company has pledged over 10 lakh meals across India to the daily wage earners," the statement said.

How has the coronavirus outbreak disrupted your life? And how are you dealing with it? Write to us or send us a video with subject line 'Coronavirus Disruption' to editorial@yourstory.com

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