Reliance Steps Up Against Coronavirus: Free JioFiber And 4G Data, Covid-19 Hospital & More

With the total number of confirmed positive cases of coronavirus in India crossing 500, India’s business leaders have been stepping up to support the government in controlling the spread of the pandemic further and support the healthcare efforts. Besides the likes of Mahindra and Paytm, Reliance Industries has announced that it has already initiated multi-pronged prevention, mitigation, and support strategy to back the efforts of the medical community as well as those impacted by the quarantine and lockdowns around the country.

Reliance said it has set up a 100-bed hospital in Mumbai to meet the demand for isolation wards in the wake of cases surging in the financial capital of India. Besides this, the company has announced free fuel for all emergency service vehicles. Mukesh Ambani-led group has also announced initial support of INR 5 Cr to the Maharashtra Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.

Free Reliance Jio Digital Services

Besides announcing healthcare-related support, Reliance Jio said it is combining its digital capabilities with the Microsoft Teams communication and collaboration app to enable individuals, students, educational and healthcare institutions to continue their work and education while still practising social distancing due to the coronavirus lockdowns.

Through JioFiber, JioFi and Jio mobile 4G service, it will provide basic JioFiber broadband connectivity at 10 Mbps, wherever it is geographically feasible, without any service charges, for this period. Jio will also provide the home gateway routers with a minimum refundable deposit.

Existing JioFiber subscribers will get double data limits across all plans. Further, Jio will provide double-data across its 4G data add-on vouchers. It will also bundle voice calling minutes for making calls to non-Jio numbers at no additional cost to meet the increased need of these services during the lockdown.

Further, the company said that all 736 grocery stores of Reliance Retail across the country will ensure sufficient supply of essentials, including staples, fruits and vegetables, bread, breakfast cereals and other items of daily use. It must be noted that food and ecommerce delivery is counted under the government’s essential services category.

Reliance Supports Coronavirus Healthcare Efforts

The Reliance Foundation Hospital in collaboration with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has set up a dedicated 100-bed centre at Seven Hills Hospital, Mumbai for patients who test positive for Covid-19. The group’s HN Reliance Foundation Hospital has also offered to set up special medical facilities to quarantine travellers from notified countries and suspected cases. The foundation, along with NGOs, will provide free meals to people across various cities. The company has also built a fully equipped isolation facility in Lodhivali, Maharashtra.

The company said its team at Reliance Life Sciences is working to find a cure for Covid-19. It is also importing additional test kits and has increased its capacities to produce 100K face-masks per day and a large number of personal protective equipment for healthcare workers.

Reliance also said it would provide free fuel for all emergency service vehicles used to transport Covid-19 patients and quarantined people as per the list provided by government agencies.