Coronavirus donations: Tata Sons and Tata Trusts contributed Rs 1,500 crore. Tata Trusts' contribution of Rs 500 crore will be used to manufacture personal protective equipment, respiratory systems, testing kits, setting up modular treatment facilities and training of health workers
As coronavirus cases rise, companies have opened up their purses to donate generously to fight the pandemic. Industry giants such as Reliance Industries, Tata Sons, Wipro, Paytm, Infosys, HDFC Group, SBI, Kotak Mahindra Bank have joined in the fight against COVID-19.
Tata Sons and Tata Trusts combined contributed Rs 1,500 crore. "In addition to the initiatives articulated by Tata Trusts, we are also bringing in the ventilators necessary and are gearing up to also manufacture the same soon in India. The country is facing an unprecedented situation and crisis. All of us would have to do whatever it takes to alleviate and enhance the quality of lives of the communities we serve," N Chandrasekaran said in a statement. Tata Trusts' contribution of Rs 500 crore will be used to manufacture personal protective equipment, respiratory systems, testing kits, setting up modular treatment facilities and training of health workers. "The Tata Trusts and the Tata group companies have in the past risen to the needs of the nation. At this moment, the need of the hour is greater than any other time," Ratan Tata said.
Wipro Group and Azim Premji Foundation that committed Rs 1,125 crore said that the donations "will help enable the dedicated medical and service fraternity in the front-line of the battle against the pandemic". Out of this commitment Wipro pledged Rs 100 crore, Wipro Enterprises Rs 25 crore and Azim Premji Foundation pledged Rs 1,000 crore. The company also added that it will take "integrated action" for a comprehensive on-the-ground response in specific areas to contain the outbreak.
Public companies also contributed towards the cause. Oil joint ventures under the Ministry of Petroleum pledged Rs 1,092.29 crore.
Reliance Industries contributed Rs 500 crore towards PM CARES and another Rs 5 crore each towards Maharashtra CM and Gujarat CM's funds. Mukesh Ambani-led RIL has also set up a 100-bed centre at Seven Hills Hospital in Mumbai for coronavirus patients. Reliance Foundation is also providing free meals to people in partnership with NGOs.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma's Paytm pledged Rs 500 crore. Paytm's contribution will go towards the PM CARES fund.
Coal India pledged Rs 220 crore towards coronavirus, while engineering and construction company Larsen & Toubro and consumer goods company ITC each pledged Rs 150 crore. ITC announced the fund for the vulnerable sections of the society and towards rural healthcare.
Financial services conglomerate HDFC Group also committed Rs 150 crore to the PM CARES fund. The amount will go towards the government's relief and rehabilitation measures. "These are uncertain and trying times for all of us," said Chairman Deepak Parekh.
India's largest insurer LIC also contributed towards the PM CARES fund. Of the total amount of Rs 105 crore, Rs 5 crore was donated from the LIC's Golden Jubilee Fund.
JSW Group that deals in steel, cement, energy, and more, auto company Bajaj Group, IT giant Infosys, online payments company PhonePe, pharmaceuticals and power company Torrent Group, bicycle manufacturer Hero Cycles and Adani Foundation have all pledged Rs 100 crore each. Social media platform TikTok also pledged Rs 100 crore. "In the fight against the spread of COVID-19, we are extending support by donating Rs 100 Crore towards 400,000 hazmat medical protective suits and 200,000 masks to doctors and supporting medical staff," said the platform.
SBI employees contributed two days' salary amounting to Rs 100 crore. SBI has also committed 0.25 per cent of its annual profit to help fight Covid-19. Founder and Chairman of Vedanta Resources Anil Agarwal has committed Rs 100 crore.
Uday Kotak and Kotak Mahindra Bank contributed Rs 50 crore towards PM CARES and Rs 10 crore towards Maharashtra CM fund. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has also contributed Rs 51 crore.
Steel Authority of India (SAIL) committed Rs 30 crore, while Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO), fossil fuel electric power generation company NLC India, Jindal Steel & Power, and two-wheelers company TVS Group pledged Rs 25 crore each.
Record label and film production company T Series pledged Rs 12 crore, out of which Rs 11 crore is towards PM CARES and Rs 1 crore is towards Maharashtra CM's fund. PSU SJVN pledged Rs 8.32 crore, while Motilal Oswal has pledged Rs 5 crore and pen-maker Cello Group pledged Rs 3.5 crore. DCB Bank has committed Rs 1 crore.
Anand Mahindra, Chairman of Mahindra Group committed his salary towards fighting coronavirus. "We will encourage associates to voluntarily contribute this fund. I will contribute 100% of my salary to it and will add more over the next few months. I will urge all our various businesses to also set aside contributions for those who are the hardest hit in their ecosystem," assured Mahindra. He also urged Mahindra's resorts to be converted into temporary hospitals for coronavirus patients. Mahindra and Mahindra is also planning to start making ventilators for coronavirus patients.
Shah Rukh Khan announced a host of initiatives to fight coronavirus through his companies Red Chillies Entertainment, Kolkata Knight Riders, Meer Foundation and Red Chillies VFX. KKR and Meer Foundation will donate 50,000 personal protective equipments to Maharashtra and West Bengal governments. Meer foundation, along with Ek Saath - The Earth Foundation will provide food to over 5,500 families and set up a kitchen to produce 2,000 cooked meals for household and hospitals that need them. Meer Foundation and Roti Foundation will provide 3 lakh meal kits for 10,000 people per day for at least a month. Meer Foundation will also provide essential items and groceries to over 2,500 wage workers across Delhi.
INDIA CORONAVIRUS TRACKER: BusinessToday.In brings you a daily tracker as coronavirus cases continue to spread. Here is the state-wise data on total cases, fatalities and recoveries in one comprehensive graphic
The setting up of a special fund -- PM CARES Fund - for providing relief to those affected by COVID-19 has invited controversy after people questioned the need for a new fund when the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) is already in existence.
The PM CARES, or the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund, has been set up as a public charitable trust. The Prime Minister is the chairman of this trust and its members include Defence Minister, Home Minister And Finance Minister.
The questions that people have raised primarily are on the utility and advantages of having a separate fund when the PMNRF is for exactly the same purpose, when it was registered, and under which act, etc.
The statement issued by the government justifies the setting up of a fund by saying that distress situations, whether natural or otherwise, demand expeditious and collective action for alleviating the suffering of those affected, mitigation/control of damage to infrastructure and capacities etc. It also says that the Prime Minister's office has been receiving spontaneous and innumerable requests for making generous donations to support the government in the wake of this emergency.
So why a separate fund when the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund is already there? The justification coming from the government sources is that while PMNRF is for all kinds of natural disasters, PM CARES fund is specially meant for COVID-19 similar pandemic situations.
The government officials also say that any spending from the Consolidated Fund of India needs to be passed by the Parliament, therefore, creation of a donation-based fund means that legislature hurdle is taken care of.
There are others who believe that a separate fund for COVID-19 relief would encourage more people to contribute in the fund because everyone is impacted by Coronavirus outbreak.
"COVID-19 has impacted people across the country. Therefore, PM CARES attaches a cause to it. Everyone is feeling for this cause. An earthquake in Andaman or a storm in Orissa is not something for which people would have same level of concern as that of a pan-India disaster like COVID-19. Hence, a separate fund for COVID-19 relief makes perfect sense," says Mohit Chaudhary, a Supreme Court lawyer and managing partner of law firm Kings and Alliance.
Virag Gupta, a Supreme Court lawyer, also dismisses the questions on setting up of a new fund as he feels the COVID-19 outbreak is one-off crisis, which needs special attention.
As for the question on legalities of setting up a charitable public trust, Virag Gupta says that any kind of a trust has to be registered, and the PM CARES Fund must have been registered as per the relevant laws.
However, Mohit Chaudhary of Kings and Alliance says these relief funds are different kinds of charitable funds and they are not governed by laws and regulations meant for ordinary charitable trusts. So, he feels that with PM as the chairman of the trust and defence minister, home minister and finance minister as its members, legal issues like registration of the trust, etc will hardly be an issue.
The PM CARES Fund tries to differentiate itself from PMNRF by enabling micro-donations. The statement issued by the government specifically says that the fund will enable micro-donations as a result of which a large number of people will be able to contribute with smallest of denominations.
One can donate as low as Rs 10 in the PM CARES Fund, while the minimum one can donate in PM National Relief Fund is Rs 100.
The contribution towards PMNRF is used to offer immediate relief to families of those killed in natural calamities such as floods, cyclones and earthquakes, etc and to the victims of the major accidents and riots. The fund is also used to partially pay for expenses for medical treatment like heart surgeries, kidney transplantation, cancer treatment and acid attack etc. The fund consists entirely of public contributions and does not get any budgetary support. The PM National Relief Fund had a balance of Rs 3,800 crore as on 31 March 2019.
The contribution towards PMNRF is 100 per ccent tax deductible under Section 80 G of the Income Tax Act. Though contribution towards PM CARES Fund will also get Section 80 G tax benefits, it is not clear if there 100 per cent deduction will be allowed. Not all donations under Section 80 G are eligible for 100 per cent tax deductions.
Contributions towards PM CARES Fund will be an eligible expenditure under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) obligations. Under CSR, companies have to spend 2% of their last year's profit towards social causes.
