Walmart, Flipkart offer Rs 46 crore to support fight against Covid-19

Bentonville, Arkansas based ecommerce giant Walmart, along with its subsidiary Flipkart and Walmart Foundation have jointly announced funds worth Rs 46 crore to support the Indian government and the people working towards fighting Covid-19 pandemic. 

The foundation and the companies will offer personal protective equipment (PPE) such as N95 masks and medical gowns, worth Rs 38.3 crore, to public healthcare workers via non-government organisations (NGOs), according to the statement. 

Walmart and Flipkart have already secured 300,000 N95 masks and 1 million medical gowns.

Read: Coronavirus India LIVE Updates

“In times like these, we all need to come together to support our communities and the efforts of healthcare workers, NGOs, and government organizations,” Kathleen McLaughlin, EVP and chief sustainability officer for Walmart and president of the Walmart Foundation, said.

Additionally, the Walmart Foundation will donate Rs 7.7 crore to NGOs like Goonj and Srijan, to support vulnerable communities amid crisis, the statement added. The funds will be deployed to support the procurement of essential relief materials, such as food, medicine, and hygiene items, for distribution by the organisations to support farmers, rural communities, and micro-businesses.   

Ecommerce giant Amazon recently launched a $25 million relief fund for its delivery partners impacted by Covid-19, according to several media reports. 

Covid-19 has hit ecommerce in India. With the ‘Janata curfew’ on March 22, etailers in India, including grocery delivery sector, saw a loss of $400 million in revenues within a week. The losses of the entire period for phase one of the national lockdown until April 14 has been estimated at $1 billion, according to the market research company Forrester.