COVID-19 Relief: Samsung Pledges $50 Lakh, Paytm To Set Up Oxygen Plants In 13 Cities

Tech giant Samsung and digital wallet and e-commerce platform Paytm announced their separate initiatives to help India fight the second wave of COVID pandemic on Tuesday.

While Samsung said it would contribute $50 lakh (₹37 crore), Paytm Foundation said that it would set up oxygen plants in 12-13 cities, reported News18.

In a statement, Samsung mentioned that it would donate $30 lakh to the Centre and states of Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and provide $20 lakh worth of medical supplies, including 100 Oxygen Concentrators, 3,000 Oxygen Cylinders, and 10 lakh LDS syringes (to Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu).

LDS or Low Dead Space syringes minimise the amount of drug left in the device after injection, optimising vaccine usage.

The technology has demonstrated up to 20 per cent greater efficiency, and if existing syringes were to deliver 10 lakh million doses, LDS syringes could deliver 12 lakh doses with the same amount of vaccine. Samsung has helped the manufacturer of these syringes increase production capacity, the statement said.

Paytm said that it would set up oxygen plants in 12-13 cities. These oxygen plants would be directly installed at hospitals. It is in conversation with state governments and hospitals for approvals to set up these oxygen plants that will be provided free of cost to government hospitals by the Paytm Foundation.

Apart from this, Paytm Foundation has also sourced over 21,000 Oxygen Concentrators that would be sent to government hospitals, COVID care facilities, private hospitals, nursing homes as well as Resident Welfare Associations by mid-May, reported The New Indian Express.

Besides, Samsung has also set up in-house facilities and teams across the country to help employees and their families with information and access to medical supplies as well as hospital facilities and home care.

In April 2020, Samsung had contributed ₹20 crore to India's fight against the pandemic.