Tata works to fund a ‘no limit’ COVID care initiative | Economic Times

Tata group companies are once again putting their heft behind a massive Covid-19 critical care initiative, pumping in funds and resources to set up thousands of hospital beds, arranging oxygen and training medical volunteers as a huge vaccination plan is prepared.The group is expected to put in over ₹2,000 crore in these initiatives, with a “no limit” directive from Tata Trusts chairman Ratan Tata and Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran on the back of upbeat performances by Tata companies. The focus and effort is to provide infrastructure and equipment needed to tackle the health crisis while it finalises plans of tying up with vaccine makers, officials said.Speaking exclusively to ET, Banmali Agrawala, president, infrastructure, defence & aerospace, said Tata Steel, Tata AutoComp Systems, Tata Motors, Indian Hotels, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata International, Voltas and Tata Projects have come together to support Covid-19 initiatives. Some of these companies helped to procure lifesaving equipment soon after the outbreak last year. 82363471“There are a lot of learnings that we have picked up from last year’s initiatives and that has kept us in good stead. From setting up labour camps for migrant workers under Tata Projects to converting 1,500 hotel rooms in Indian Hotels to hospital beds. So what we were also very successful as a conglomerate was in getting all companies together and cutting across horizontally to work together,” Agrawala said.The group has formed a crack team of senior officials from each group entity to discuss, coordinate and collaborate daily. More than funds, the requirement this time is to provide infrastructure and equipment such as hospital beds, oxygen and vaccines.Apart from these resources, Tata Trusts has started medical training programmes for volunteers in a tie-up with the Christian Medical College in Vellore.“There is a very important need to support the medical fraternity with trained technicians who can handle Covid-19 care equipment,” Agrawala said.Indian Hotels, through its Ginger and President group of hotels, has offered 1,400 rooms with medical supervision. Patients who become critical will be shifted from these facilities to hospitals when needed. The company has mapped hotels that are close to hospitals across the country to enable efficient patient care, Agrawala said.Tata Projects has set up camps with food and accommodation so that migrant workers can remain on site. Tata International, Voltas and Trent are offering warehouses to store critical equipment.Tata Motors in Jamshedpur and Tata Chemicals in Mithapur, Gujarat, are equipping and expanding existing hospitals to include ICUs and ventilators.“Many hospitals are either being expanded or being funded by us, such as the ones built by the Defence Research & Development Organisation in Delhi and Gujarat,” Agrawala said.A key area for the Tata group’s efforts is the supply and transport of oxygen, for which India is short of containers.The group has partnered with Linde, a global industrial gases company, to airlift liquid oxygen containers from Singapore, China and Dubai to India.The Indian air force played a crucial role in supporting the Tatas with cargo planes and opening up their airfields.Tata Trusts imported oxygen concentrators from China, with Trent, Voltas and Tata International playing a key role in providing support through their global offices and warehouses.