Mumbai: The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a devastating toll on India, with many of our loved ones and friends directly impacted. However, the response to this humanitarian crisis was overwhelming, with support flowing from within the country and the world. KKR is proud to be one of the companies that provided funding and donated much-needed resources to help the local communities during this challenging period.
In 2020, KKR established the KKR Relief Fund to provide direct donations to relevant aid organizations and worked towards identifying how its portfolio companies could offer assistance to hospitals, relief efforts, and other non-profit organizations.
Over the past 15 months, KKR’s India giving campaign, which is part of KKR’s global coronavirus relief effort, contributed Rs. 30.5 crores (US$4.1 million) to support a range of medical and humanitarian assistance programs across India. These include:
· Contributing to the PM Cares Fund, which is part of the Government of India’s national effort to fight COVID-19 and help the fellow citizens affected by this health crisis
· Providing funding along with others to support the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum that purchased about 38,700 oxygen concentrators for Indian aid groups to distribute to hospitals and patients in need. This donation was made at the height of India’s second COVID-19 wave earlier this year when the country was facing a shortage of oxygen to treat infected patients
· KKR with its portfolio companies Ramky Enviro Engineers, Lighthouse Learning (formerly known as Eurokids International), Avendus, and JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals contributed to ACT Grants India, a non-profit group that provided oxygen supply to those in need
· Supporting organizations that provide long-term development assistance, such as the International Justice Mission and Teach for India, to provide food, basic hygiene, and financial aid to vulnerable families
· KKR’s assistance also enabled vaccination for frontline teaching fellows who were working directly with children
· Donating 100,000 Livinguard reusable, virus-deactivating face masks for residents in rural India and other hard-to-reach communities, and working with local non-profits to distribute the masks and educate recipients on their proper use
· Working with portfolio company Max Healthcare to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to approximately 1,500 KKR and portfolio company employees and their family members. KKR and our portfolio companies covered all of the vaccination costs
Gaurav Trehan, CEO KKR India, said “KKR has been investing in India since 2006, and our ties go well beyond our investments – India is home to our employees and their families. The donations made by KKR and other global corporations have supported India to get through the worst of the pandemic. However, there is much more to do before the country can fully recover. India is an important part of KKR’s future, and we – and our portfolio companies – want to be part of the long-term solution. As KKR looks ahead, we will continue to actively support the programs and organizations across India that are providing much-needed healthcare services, supplies, and relief to slow – and eventually stop – the pandemic.”