Reliance steps up to help COVID ravaged India

In an attempt to curb the pathogen that has ravaged India in the past year, Mukesh Ambani owned Reliance Industries Ltd. is working on providing a new COVID-19 drug and cheaper testing kits.

It has also submitted a proposal for the use of an oral, anti-viral drug Niclosamide as a potential Covid-19 medicine, according to its annual report.

Apart from this, India's most valued company has also designed a process to produce sanitisers aligned with WHO specifications at 20 per cent of market cost

The report says that the company has also had its novel cost-effective diagnostic kits -- R-Green and R-Green Pro -- been approved by India's apex medical research body.

In order to address ventilator shortages across Indian hospitals seen earlier this year, the refining-to-retail group is also trying to use 3D technology and a "special snorkeling mask." It is designing medical-grade oxygen generators with five to seven liter capacity per minute, the report said.

Reliance's efforts come as India emerges the pandemic's epicenter with the world's fastest-surging coronavirus outbreak that has sickened 28.44 million so far and killed more than 337,900 people in the Asian nation. Even though the deadly second wave is ebbing, experts have warned against a possible third wave of infections.

The company is providing up to three months pay to its employees as interest-free advance in case of an exigency. In case of demise of an employee, it will provide financial support to the family and bear the educational expenses of children.

When India was grappling with a huge oxygen shortage during the second wave in April, Reliance repurposed its plants in Jamnagar, world's biggest oil refinery site, to produce medical-grade oxygen. Last year, it set up a unit to make personal protective equipment kits for the front-line health care workers.