Walmart mobilizes global resources to support COVID-19 relief efforts in India

To address the oxygen crisis in India, Walmart will be donating up to 20 oxygen-generating plants and 20 cryogenic containers, over 3,000 oxygen concentrators and 500 oxygen cylinders to hospitals and NGOs in the country.

Walmart, the Walmart Foundation, Flipkart and PhonePe are mobilizing their global resources to scale COVID-19 relief efforts in India, the retail giant announced on Friday.

To address the oxygen crisis in India, Walmart will be donating up to 20 oxygen-generating plants and 20 cryogenic containers, over 3,000 oxygen concentrators and 500 oxygen cylinders to hospitals and NGOs in the country.

In addition, as part of the U.S.- India Business Council and U.S.- India Strategic Partnership Forum's joint relief effort, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation have pledged to fund an additional 2,500 oxygen concentrators.

Further, the Walmart Foundation is donating Rs 148.2 million (USD2million) to support various NGOs in India. Of the total amount, about Rs 74.1 million (USD1 million) will be allocated via the Walmart Foundation Disaster Relief Fund to recommend support for Doctors for You NGO to operate isolation centres and temporary hospitals and to provide PPE for frontline medical workers.

The other Rs 74.1 million(USD1 million) will be allocated to GIVE Foundation Inc to support GiveIndia's, an online donation platform, COVID-19 response fund for supporting physical infrastructure and equipment for the medical sector in India.

Flipkart is joining forces with GiveIndia to raise funds for critical medical supplies such as oxygen, PPE kits, hand sanitisers and other essentials at COVID-19 centres, charitable hospitals and for healthcare workers in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. Additionally, Flipkart is now allowing its customers to use their SuperCoins to donate directly towards ambulance services and oxygen cylinder refills.

Commenting on this development, Doug McMillon, President and CEO of Walmart Inc, said, "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."

"We are working hard to combine Walmart's global capabilities and Flipkart's distribution network to ensure vital oxygen and supplies are made available to those who need them most," he added.