In a bid to help the respective state fight the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, tech giant Microsoft’s Indian arm provided support of 125 oxygen concentrators to the Noida authority. In the past few months, several tech companies and countries have stood in solidarity with the nation and have provided the nation with different kind of aids. While some organizations raised money and equally paid the same capital, others have given financial assistance to NGOs and governmental agencies.

Details

According to the official statement-

“Noida Authority has been seeking support from private players in the fight against Covid, and Microsoft India has provided 125 oxygen concentrators of 5-litre capacity each.”

Ritu Maheshwari, CEO of the Noida Authority issued a statement and said that Microsoft’s support as part of the corporate social responsibility will help the state in its fight against the pandemic. So far reports suggest that with the coordination of district management, these oxygen concentrators will be distributed to hospitals in Noida and rural areas.

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Tech Companies that have lent their helping hand to India in its fight against COVID-19

Since March 2021, the nation has been dealing with everyday rises in number of infected patients and casualties related to coronavirus complications. The situation has gotten even worse compared to last year due to the fact that the new virus has mutated and is affecting people’s respiratory system.

As such, people are left scrambling to get their hands on oxygen cylinders and concentrators. The situation is unprecedented as states across the nation have raised SOS warnings due to their hospitals not having enough oxygen.

In such situation, several tech companies have come to the nation’s aid and have done their deed in accordance with social responsibility. Here are some of them:

1) Xiaomi India

Known as the most popular smartphone brands in the country, Xiaomi is a Chinese brand that came to India’s help recently. The brand promised a donation of Rs. 3 crore to help the country procure over 1,000 oxygen concentrators. Manu Kumar Jain, the CEO of the Indian arm of Xiaomi, these concentrators once procured, will be given to hospitals and state governments according to need.

Furthermore, the company has also partnered with GiveIndia NGo and will be raising Rs. 1,00,00,000 to help the frontline warriors of the country.

2) Google

Tech giant Alphabet’s CEO Sundar Pichai announced that the company’s subsidiary Google will be donating Rs. 135 crore ($18 million) to help India fight the healthcare crisis.

In its official blog, VP and Head of Google India Sanjay Gupta wrote-

“This includes two grants from Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm, totaling 20 Crore INR ($2.6 million USD). The first is to GiveIndia to provide cash assistance to families hit hardest by the crisis to help with their everyday expenses. The second will go to UNICEF to help get urgent medical supplies, including oxygen and testing equipment, to where it’s needed most in India. It also includes donations from our ongoing employee giving campaign — so far more than 900 Googlers have contributed 3.7 Crore INR ($500,000 USD) for organizations supporting high-risk and marginalized communities.”

3) Amazon India

E-commerce giant Amazon’s Indian arm has collaborated with the ACT Grants, Temasek Foundation and PPCR (Pune Platform For COVID-19) to provide 8,000 oxygen concentrators and BiPAP machines (bi-level positive airway pressure). Amazon India will also bear the cost of airlifting the shipment through Air India and other carriers. Further, leveraging on its strong logistic core, the company will also bear the responsibility of the movement and delivery of these pieces to the places where these equipments are needed the most.

4) Paytm to raise Rs 10 crore for India’s coronavirus crisis

Indian e-commerce and fintech company Paytm recently announced the company’s mission to raise Rs. 2 crores through donation which would be used in procurement oxygen concentrators. The CEO of the company Vijay Shekhar Sharma said that the company will match the same amount and donate it. The company last announced that it had already reached its target and has pushed the goalpost to Rs. 10 crores

5) CRED aims to raise funds for 1 billion liters of oxygen

Indian fintech unicorn CRED’s founder Kunal Shah recently took to Twitter and announced the fundraising initiative the company has taken. The company is aiming to raise money to source 1 billion litres of oxygen. The company has also partnered with Milaap foundation to make sure that the contribution is given to the hospitals in need.

 

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