Bengaluru, April 18: Flipkart along with Walmart Inc, Walmart Foundation on Saturday said to combat the coronavirus pandemic in India, they are going to donate personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers. They have also arranged funds for organizations providing essential relief materials to farmers and small businesses.

 

 

Walmart and Flipkart will spend Rs 38.3 crore to bring in-kind donations into India to help with frontline response efforts. They are also going to focus on providing PPE, such as N95 masks and medical gowns, to be distributed by non-government organizations (NGOs) to public healthcare workers. The companies said they had leveraged their global supply chains to procure critical materials.

 

 

“The emergency relief efforts we are announcing today underscore our commitment to continuing to work with the private and public sector in India to respond to this unprecedented challenge,” said Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO, Flipkart Group.

 

“Our customers and associates in India have been deeply impacted by COVID-19 and our hearts continue to be with them,” says Kathleen McLaughlin, EVP & chief sustainability officer of Walmart.

 

"Walmart and Flipkart have already secured 300,000 N95 masks and 1 million medical gowns, and they will continue to leverage their global supply chains to source these critical necessities for medical workers who stand at the frontline of the fight against the COVID-19 outbreak in India," he further added.

 

Moreover, Walmart Foundation is donating a total of Rs 7.7 crore to Goonj and Srijan — NGOs supporting vulnerable communities through the crisis. The funds will be used to support the procurement of essential relief materials, such as food, medicine and hygiene items, for distribution by the organizations to support farmers, rural communities, and the micro-businesses, the statement said.

 

Earlier Corporate India including Tata, Wipro, Mahendra has also contributed their bit to help the government and citizens fight the pandemic.