Bhubaneswar: Vedanta Aluminium, India’s largest producer of aluminium and its value-added products, has dedicateda second Covid facility to the people of Odisha, developed at Eklavya Model Residential School, in Deogarh. With the new Covid facility at Deogarh, and a similar one at Kalahandi, Vedanta has added 300 critical care beds to bolster Odisha’s medical infrastructure, aiding the state’s efforts to provide timely and proper care to the critically ailing patients.
Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik declared open the hospital to public in a virtual ceremony, in the presence of union steel minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Vedanta Group chairman Anil Agarwal, and Vedanta Ltd. CEO Aluminum Businesss Rahul Sharma.
Set up under the aegis of the Anil Agarwal Foundation, both hospitals have been funded by Vedanta Aluminium and will be managed by the government of Odisha.
The Covid facility at Deogarhhas 100 beds and is fullyoxygenated with 12 Intensive Care Units (ICU),32 High Dependency Units (HDU), a Paediatric Covid ICU, and a dedicated team of doctors and medical staff to render medical services to the patients. The new hospital is the last of Vedanta’s Covid field hospitals and facilities established across the country.Vedanta has set upmore than 1000 critical care beds across India, of which Odisha has been supported with one of the highest number of beds.
Dedicating the hospital to public, CM Naveen Patnaik said,“With the support of Vedanta Group, we had started a 200-bed hospital at Kalahandi, and today we dedicated a 100-bed hospital at Deogarh.I thank Anil Agarwal and Vedanta Management for coming forward as a corporate partner in our fight against Covid.”
Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Hon’ble Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel, Government of India, added, “I thank Mr. Anil Agrawal and the Vedanta Management for promptly accepting our proposal to set up a Covid Hospital at a remote place like Deogarh.This will go a long way towards fighting Covid in Odisha. I consider your gesture as true corporate social responsibility and thank you for the same.”
Mr. Anil Agarwal, Executive Chairman – Vedanta Group, said, “The Deogarh COVID Hospital is our humble contribution to the people Odisha, with whom we have had a long and enriching association.The Vedanta Cares Field Hospital project is our flagship initiative to lend much needed support to India in the fight against COVID, and I am pleased that we have delivered upon that commitment. I thank all host state governments for their unequivocal support which helped us fast-track this project and set up facilities across the country in only a month’s time. May they become a strong support in the nation’s fight against COVID and help keep our people safe.”
Rahul Sharma, CEO – AluminiumBusiness,Vedanta Ltd., added, “The COVID Hospital at Deogarh is Vedanta Aluminium’s second such facility developed in partnership with the Government of Odisha. We hope the hospitals in Kalahandi and Deogarh will be of immense help to the people of Odisha, along with the District COVID Hospital at Jharsuguda which we have been supporting since the past year. Under the enterprising and far-sighted leadership of Honorable Chief Minister Shri. Naveen Patnaik Ji, we are sure Odisha will continue to battle the pandemic effectively and efficiently. Vedanta Aluminium will continue to extend its support and resources to aid the state government and district administrations through this critical situation.”
Through its Aluminium Business, Vedanta has already vaccinated nearly 30,000 people in its ecosystem, including employees, business partners and their family members residing in Odisha. Since the outbreak of the pandemic last year, Vedanta continues to support the state’s COVID management effort in various ways:
· 300-bed state-of-the-art COVID Hospitals with 28 ICUs, 48 HDUs,and Odisha’s Paediatric COVID Care ICU set up in Kalahandi and Deogarh
· Vedanta continues to support the District COVID Hospital at Jharsuguda with ICU beds, ventilators, specialized medical equipment, ambulance, and so on.
· Providing 2000 oxygen cylinders to the state government towards ensuring uninterrupted supply of oxygen for critical patients.
· Provided 10,000 RT PCR testing kits to the District Government Hospital at Bhawanipatna.
· 92,000 units of highly specialized Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) were provided to the Government of Odisha last year.
· Thousands of daily wage earners and under-served families were provided with rations and meals.
· Over 3.3 lakh masks, soaps and safety kits were freely distributed to the needy. The masks are being made by women of Vedanta-supported self-help groups, thus providing them a means of livelihood in these tough times.
· Hundreds of awareness sessions on COVID-19 were conducted across remote villages.
· Intensive fumigation and disinfection of public places, including public offices was carried out in the areas of Vedanta’s operations.
· Extensive support was provided to local farmers to sustain their livelihood during lockdowns.
Vedanta Aluminium Business, a division of Vedanta Limited, is India’s largest manufacturer of aluminium, producing half of India’s aluminium at 1.96 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) in FY21. It is a leader in value-added aluminium products that find critical applications in core industries. With its world-class Aluminium Smelters, Alumina Refinery and Power Plants in India, the company fulfils its mission of spurring emerging applications of aluminium as the ‘Metal of the Future’ for a greener tomorrow.
