BENGALURU: Ride hailing major Ola has partnered with GiveIndia Foundation to home deliver 10,000 oxygen concentrators across the country, free of charge, as India continues to grapple with a severe healthcare crisis caused by the second coronavirus wave.
The project will take-off in Bengaluru city this week and will be scaled to other cities soon, Ola chief executive officer Bhavish Agarwal said. India’s start-up leaders including Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Zomato chief Deepinder Goyal, and Cred CEO Kunal Shah have started fundaraisers and tied up with non-profit bodies to import oxygen concentrators and other essential supplies into the country.
Ola’s non-profit subsidiary Ola Foundation will be providing free oxygen concentrators to those in need via the Ola app, and will offer free doorstep delivery and pick up. “We are going live in Bangalore this week and will be scaling across India in the coming weeks,” the company said. “We must come together and help our communities during these unprecedented times. We hope this initiative brings much-needed support during these very difficult times and helps in mitigating the pain and anxiety among those impacted,” added Aggarwal.
Once a request for an oxygen concentrator is validated within the app, the company will deliver it to the user’s doorstep and pick it up back once it is no longer needed. “We hope the easier access to oxygen will ease the distress of many patients,” said Atul Satija, CEO, GiveIndia.