ITC announces a ₹150 crore Covid-19 contingency fund

• ITC announced that it has set up a ₹150 crore contingency fund to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
• The fund will also be available for the people in the frontline of the pandemic by providing them with protective personal gear and hygiene products.
• ITC will also work with state authorities and local administration to ensure that manufacturing and distribution activities continue uninterrupted with bare minimum people.

Indian business conglomerate ITC announced that it has set up a ₹150 crore contingency fund to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

“This fund will be utilised primarily to provide relief to the vulnerable and most needy sections of society who have been harshly impacted by the pandemic and have faced significant disruption in their livelihoods,” said the company’s official statement.

The company will also work with district authorities in various states to make way for assistance in a healthcare ecosystem which will reach out to the weaker sections of the society. The fund will also be available for the people in the frontline of the pandemic by providing them with protective personal gear and hygiene products.

With the supply chain of essential services including groceries and medicines having been hit – ITC will work with state authorities and local administration to ensure that manufacturing and distribution activities continue uninterrupted with bare minimum people.

Earlier, Reliance Industries announced that it has built India’s first Covid-19 hospital and an isolation centre as well.

A similar move was announced by Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekharan.

"During this time of crisis, our group companies commit to ensuring full payments to the temporary workers and daily wage earners who are working in our offices and at our sites in India for the month of March and April, 2020, even if these workers are not able to work due to either quarantine measures, site closures, plant shutdowns or other reasons," Chandrasekharan said in a statement.

The government earlier announced that amounts spent by corporates to control Coronavirus will be considered a part of their Corporate Social Responsibility.(CSR) initiatives.

A circular from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs said that corporate spending for various activities related to Covid-19 including promotion of healthcare, preventive healthcare, sanitation, disaster management would qualify for treatment as CSR.

As per government rules, all listed companies should spend at least 2% of their profits on CSR.

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