CEOs of 40 US companies come together to help India

Many US  company CEOs have come together to help India as the country faces a crisis situation due to rising Covid-19 cases and deaths. The CEOS of these companies have created a global task force to mobilise resources to help India tackle the deadly Covid-19 wave that has overwhelmed the country’s healthcare system. A collective initiative has been started by the US-India Business Council of US Chamber of Commerce and the US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum and Business Roundtable to supply 20,000 oxygen concentrators to India in the next few weeks. The development was confirmed by Deloitte CEO Puneet Renjen.

The new US public-private partnership to provide India critical medical supplies, vaccines, oxygen and other life-saving assistance has been named the Global Task Force on pandemic response, the report added. At least 40 CEOs of US bases companies have joined in this initiative. The task force’s first priority is to get 20,000 oxygen concentrators to India in the next few weeks. Puneet Renjen said the first 1,000 will arrive in India in the middle of this week and another 11,000 concentrators can be expected by May 5. "Our goal is to get 25,000, and maybe even a number higher than that," he added. The second issue is to look at oxygen cylinders with 10-litre and 45-litre capacity and to get other supplies like monitoring kits, Renjen said.

"This global crisis requires a global response, and the American business community could not be better positioned, or more determined, to help lead the way," said Suzanne Clark, president and chief executive officer of the US Chamber of Commerce. Several Indian companies have come forward to mitigate the oxygen crisis. They have ramped up the production of liquid oxygen that hospitals are finding hard to procure, especially in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Reliance Industries Limited, Tata, JSW Steel and Jindal Steel and Power are a few companies helping the Indian government fulfil the liquid oxygen to hospitals. They have increased oxygen production at their plants to help meet the daily oxygen requirement at hospitals. The health ministry has clearly stated the breaking the chain of infections is crucial to limit the spread of infections during the second wave. The expansion of the vaccination drive to all adults from May 1 is also expected to help India’s fight against Covid-19.