India Inc. — individually and through apex industry associations — has stepped in to help the people of Nepal and their friends and relatives who are trying to reach them.
Airtel has offered free calls from India to Nepal for 48 hours from the midnight of April 25 to ease connectivity.
ITC, which has a major corporate presence in Nepal through its subsidiary Surya Nepal hotel, despatched two lakh food items to support India’s relief operations in Nepal.
CII has formed a “India & Nepal Task Force on Earthquake Relief Operations,” to coordinate and extend industry support for providing immediate relief to the earthquake-affected victims in Nepal and parts of India, especially West Bengal and Bihar.” This taskforce would be chaired by Sanjiv Goenka, Past President, CII.
“We are in touch with Indian Embassy in Nepal, Nepalese Embassy in India, External Affairs Ministry in India, the Control Rooms in India & Nepal and also the affected State Governments in India. CII has also started collecting many items including ready-to-eat food, water, tarpaulin, biscuits, blankets, tents, essential medicines, etc, for immediate relief to the earthquake-affected victims in Nepal, CII president Sumit Mazumder said.
A CII release said the Federation of the Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) has requested CII for help and support of the Indian industry.
“After coordinating with various government agencies and local authorities, an interim assessment of the situation has been done and CII shared the urgent essential requirements with its membership, requesting them to contribute,” Mr. Mazumder said.