NEW DELHI: Corporate India has been forced to swing into action to protect its employees from Delhi’s menacing pollution even as the unprecedented bout of toxic air since Diwali has dismayed Indian and foreign companies.Corporate leaders say the region’s toxic air and its impact on health and productivity may repel investment and make it difficult to attract international talent. For the moment, many have decided to provide masks to employees, issue health advisories, install air purifiers and advise staff to stay indoors."In a fast-growing population, what’s needed is significant investments that ensure improvement in clean air, clean water and sanitation," said Reckitt Benckiser Global CEO Rakesh Kapoor . "We are investing for growth in the long term here and India continues to have long-term growth potential," he added. Maruti Suzuki Chairman RC Bhargava said the prevailing pollution in the Capital was "extremely unfortunate". "It may affect new investors if there is no visibility of measures being taken to address this issue. A concerted political effort is required," he said.Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma said clean air was far more important than other achievements. "Without clean air, we won’t be there. All growth and achievements sound so small in front of sustainable environment," said Sharma, who is also the chief executive officer of Paytm.MTS India CEO Sergey Savchenko said the situation was getting from bad to worse. "From a business standpoint, if things continue unchecked, it is bound to have a negative impact on the health of employees, their families and also the customers, ultimately leading to an adverse impact on business activities across the value chain." Some CEOs have travelled out of Delhi to work from places like Bengaluru as pollution has been at alarming levels for a week, prompting emergency health warnings from authorities.An American Tower Corporation (ATC) official said the company is going to announce flexible working hours next week in the wake of increased pollution levels in Delhi-National Capital Region. Companies such as Google, Huawei, Panasonic and LG Electronics India have already installed air purifiers in their local offices. Huawei is providing masks to its employees, mainly to expats and their families, a company spokesman said, while Panasonic has advised employees to stay indoors unless unavoidable. HCL has issued a similar advisory. "We have installed air purifiers across all our offices. We don’t want to take any chance with regard to our team’s health," said Panasonic India President Manish Sharma.Coca-Cola has a flexi work policy under which employees can opt for working from home in situations such as the current one after informing their managers.Indus Towers, Lava and Intex Technologies have also provided protective masks to employees. Vishal Manchanda, national headlearning and development at Indus Towers, said the company was providing masks to employees’ families too.TV Mohandas Pai, chairman of Manipal Global Education Services, said people with young children should leave the city and activities such as construction and burning of paddy husk should be banned for at least 15 days. "Corporates can do nothing on this. The layer of smog on Delhi has been there since two years. We have not seen a clear blue sky for some time now. An insensitive state government and unnecessary debates coupled with lame bureaucracy are making matters worse. It’s time action is taken, otherwise this menace of smog will become a permanent feature of Delhi," he said. Pai’s concern was shared by Vineet Nayar, former CEO of HCL Technologies."Smog in Delhi reflects our collective disregard for common good …Talking and doing nothing is as harmful as the burning of crops and wood," he said.