Reliance Industries' chief Mukesh Ambani on Monday committed a further Rs 500 crore to the Prime Minister's COVID-19 fund, topping up over the multi-crore initiative of India's first coronavirus hospital, meals to the needy, and fuel to emergency vehicles.

In addition to the financial contribution to the PM's Fund, Reliance Industries has also provided contribution of Rs 5 crore each to the governments of Maharashtra and Gujarat to support their fight against COVID-19, said a company statement.

"Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) today announced a donation of Rs 500 crore to PM CARES Fund in response to the call by the Prime Minister to support the nation's fight against the coronavirus onslaught," it said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a tweet on Tuesday expressed appreciation for the company's efforts.

The entire Reliance team has been making effective contributions in the fight against COVID-19. Be it in healthcare or assisting people, they have been active. I thank Mukesh & Nita Ambani Ji for contributing to PM-CARES and for their other work towards defeating Coronavirus. https://t.co/XEcmW6eNmx — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 31, 2020

The company has also announced a host of other initiatives in a bid to play its part in the battle against the pandemic.

"We are confident India will conquer the coronavirus crisis sooner rather than later. The entire Reliance Industries team is with the nation in this hour of crisis and will do everything to win this battle against Covid-19," said Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of RIL.

Nita Ambani, Founder Chairperson of Reliance Foundation, said, "As the nation comes together to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, all of us at Reliance Foundation stand in solidarity with our countrymen and women, especially those on the frontlines to whom we pledge our full support. Our doctors and staff have helped set up India's first Covid-19 Hospital and are committed to supporting the government in exhaustive screening, testing, prevention, and treatment of Covid-19."

The need of the hour is to support marginalised and daily wage communities, she said adding "through our meal distribution programme, we aim to feed lakhs of people daily across the country".

Reliance Industries earlier announced it has opened a 100-bed hospital dedicated exclusively to treating COVID-19 patients. It has also announced a total of five million meals to be handed out to the financially deprived over the next 10 days, with more meals and more areas being added in the coming days. The organisation is also contributing one lakh masks everyday to healthcare workers at the frontline.

Its other initiatives include free fuel to medical and emergency response vehicles, several schemes under Reliance Jio to bolster seamless telephone connectivity, and consistent supply of essential groceries via Reliance Fresh.

The company said it will continue to evaluate the ongoing healthcare conditions and assess its contributions accordingly.

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