Walmart, the global retail giant, and its companies in India – Flipkart and PhonePe, and the Walmart Foundation are making their contributions to fight the severe second wave of COVID-19 pandemic with the supply of much need oxygen and other relief materials.
A statement from Walmart said its businesses worldwide are working together to procure oxygen concentrators and other equipment. Walmart will donate up to 20 oxygen-generating plants and 20 cryogenic containers for oxygen storage and transportation, as well as more than 3,000 oxygen concentrators and 500 oxygen cylinders.
Walmart President & CEO Doug McMillon
Walmart said the equipment is being sourced globally and will be donated to hospitals and NGOs in India for distribution.
“Walmart is a global family. We feel the impact of this devastating surge on our associates, families and friends across India, and it’s important that we come together to support however we can,” said Doug McMillon, President and CEO of Walmart.
Walmart and the Walmart Foundation have also committed to fund an additional 2,500 oxygen concentrators as part of the US-India Business Council and US-India Strategic Partnership Forum’s joint relief effort.
Walmart owned Flipkart is partnering with GiveIndia to raise funds to provide medical supplies such as oxygen, PPE kits, hand sanitisers and other essentials at COVID-19 centres, charitable hospitals and for healthcare workers in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore.
Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO of Flipkart said, “Through the pandemic, we have endeavoured to meet the needs of our customers while supporting our business partners through a safe supply chain and reliable platform. We and our colleagues at PhonePe are committed to doing our bit to help people in this challenging time, leveraging our logistics capabilities and mobilising resources towards the most critical needs of patients and health care professionals.”
According to the statement, Walmart, Flipkart and PhonePe will continue to step up efforts to encourage COVID-19 vaccination, including setting up on-site vaccination clinics at no cost for associates and their households, as well as Flipkart and PhonePe’s full-time contractors and delivery workers – more than 200,000 people.
The Walmart Foundation will be donating $2 million to support various NGOs in India. Previously, Walmart, Flipkart Group and the Walmart Foundation have donated $6.2 million in financial and in-kind support in India, including over 1 million PPE and CPE gowns, 600,000 N95 masks and 88 ventilators, among other contributions.
