Metal Mining conglomerate Vedanta Limited on Thursday said its Chairman Anil Agarwal has pledged Rs 150 crore to help India in its fight against deadly COVID-19 second wave. The amount is over and above Rs 201 crore that was spent by Vedanta Group in 2020, it said in a statement.

In its statement, Vedanta said “Anil Agarwal…has pledged Rs150 crore to help the country in its fight against the rapidly spreading second wave of COVID-19.”  The company will create an additional capacity of 1,000 critical care beds in 10 cities across the country in an effort to support the Centre and states in these challenging times.

The critical care facilities will have 90 beds equipped with life-saving oxygen support while the remaining will have ventilator support. The critical care beds will be placed in state-of-the-art field hospitals’ which will be attached to recognised and reputed hospitals. Each facility will have 100 beds in an air-conditioned tent with full electrical support and designed specifically for COVID care.

Currently, Vedanta is supporting around 700 beds for COVID patients across its business locations, which will be increased to 1,000 in the near term. Meanwhile, Hindustan Zinc, ESL and Sesa Goa iron ore business have stepped in to augment oxygen supplies to COVID patients as part of the Vedanta Cares initiative. Vedanta is a leading producer of metals, oil and gas.

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