Chennai-based TVS Motor Company has announced a Rs 30 crore economic aid package to tackle the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. The money is being funded by the Srinivasan Services Trust (SST), the social division of TVS Motor Company and Sundaram-Clayton.

The company says that the first phase of relief efforts has already begun, with 10 tractors fitted with disinfectants already despatched to Municipal authorities in Tamil Nadu, Krishnagiri and Mysore. 

Also, given the acute shortage of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), the Trust will also manufacture and distribute one million facemasks to healthcare workers and people who deliver food and other essential items, amidst the nationwide lockdown.

TVS has also announced that it will use the kitchens that its factories usually used to cook food for its staff to prepare daily meals for police personnel, healthcare and municipal workers. In addition, TVS is also supplying dry rations to daily wage workers in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh.

The coronavirus pandemic has also led to a grave shortage of ventilators, which is a crucial medical equipment required to treat those severely affected by the disease. TVS is evaluating the possibility of working with 3D printing companies to produce ventilators for hospitals.

 Some of the key initiatives that have already begun include:  

• Making and supplying 1 million protective face masks for essential service providers 
• Deploying vehicles and disinfectants to municipalities and helping produce medical equipment
• Employing factory kitchens at the manufacturing units in Hosur, Padi and Mysuru to make pre-packed cooked meals. These will be supplied to all essential care workers in the vicinity, from police personnel, municipal staff to healthcare workers
• In Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, dry rations will be supplied to daily wage workers who have been displaced and to villagers without food supplies

Venu Srinivasan, chairman, TVS Motor Company said, “The Covid-19 pandemic marks an unprecedented time in modern history and it will require the best of humanity to overcome the battle.  We applaud the Government’s strong resolve and numerous actions to fight this. Now, more than ever, it requires all of us to cooperate and support each other as a nation.’’