Bhubaneswar: Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) has assured Angul district administration of supplying medical oxygen for treatment of COVID-19 patients.
In a letter to district collector, JSPL’s executive director and Angul unit head said, “As a responsible corporate, JSPL is committed to the wellbeing of the people of Odisha and always with the district administration to address the emergency situation of COVID-19 pandemic.”
JSPL’s chairman Naveen Jindal has already announced that the company will supply 50 to 100 tonne of medical oxygen from its Odisha and Chhattisgarh units every day. “JSPL has always been standing with the country during calamities and emergencies and will continue to do so during this pandemic. For us, it is nation first. I am sure together we shall defeat the pandemic,” he said.
Earlier, JSPL’s managing director VR Sharma had said the company can halt steel production for a while to make oxygen available at hospitals for treatment of COVID-19 affected persons. “We can compromise steel production for a while to supply oxygen to the government to save precious lives. Our priority is people first,” said Sharma, in a statement on Twitter.
Responding to the JSPL’s noble gesture, Angul collector has thanked the company and its social arm JSPL Foundation in his tweet.
The company had supplied 725 tonne of liquid oxygen to Odisha last year to during the COVID-19 pandemic.