‘Will build hospitals & manufacture ventilators,’ Anand Mahindra, the nationalist billionaire with a golden heart

anand mahindra,

The industrialists and billionaires across the world are coming forward to help the humanity in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Billionaires from Jack Ma to Bill Gates, and Elon Musk to Bernard Arnault, have all announced some form of financial or equipment-related help to their countries as well as to other countries.

Among the Indian industrialists, Anand Mahindra has taken the lead. Anand Mahindra is among the few industrialists who always come forward to help the government in this time of crisis. The Mahindra Group chairman took twitter to offer help the Modi government fight against Corona.

Industrialists from western countries such as the USA’s Elon Musk needed a ‘nudge’ from people to come forward for the help of the government in supplying essential items even as New York alone struggles with over 15,000 cases and crippling shortage of ventilators, but a far-sighted Anand Mahindra has announced the help in the very early stages of the crisis.

In a five-part thread, Mahindra tweeted, “Going by various reports from epidemiologists, it is highly likely that India is already in Stage 3 of transmission. —Cases could rise exponentially with millions of casualties, putting a huge strain on medical infrastructure.”

“A lockdown over the next few weeks will help flatten the curve & moderate the peak pressure on medical care. —However, we need to create scores of temporary hospitals & we have a scarcity of ventilators,” he added.

He offered to manufacture ventilators at Mahindra Group’s manufacturing facilities and said that Mahindra Holidays facility could be converted into a temporary healthcare facility.

“To help in the response to this unprecedented threat, we at the Mahindra Group will immediately begin work on how our manufacturing facilities can make ventilators. —At Mahindra Holidays, we stand ready to offer our resorts as temporary care facilities.”

“Our Projects team stands ready to assist the Govt/Army in erecting temporary care facilities. —The Mahindra Foundation will create a fund to assist the hardest hit in our value chain (small businesses & the self-employed),” added Mahindra.

He also said that he will contribute his salary to Mahindra Foundation fund which will help those hit by the epidemic. “We will encourage associates to voluntarily contribute to the Fund. I will contribute 100% of my salary to it & will add more over the next few months. I urge all our various businesses to also set aside contributions for those who are the hardest hit in their ecosystems,” tweeted Mahindra in the last tweet of the thread. 

Anand Mahindra is the conscience keeper of Indian capitalism. A nationalist to the core, Mahindra has always supported the aspirations of New India, and came forward to help the government and the society whenever need.

A believer in PM Modi, on the 2019 election victory of BJP Mahindra tweeted, “Size of the country (Land mass+population) X Size of the Economy X Size of the election mandate = Leader’s Power Quotient. By the measure of this crude formula, @narendramodi is about to become the most powerful, democratically elected leader in the world today…”

Previously Mahindra announced that from the next financial year, that is April 2020, Pawan Kumar Goenka- the Managing Director of the Group, will bear the additional responsibilities of chief executive officer (CEO) and he will be transitioning from the role of executive chairman to non-executive chairman. He has set an example by bringing a non-family member in the top executive position of the company, which is rare among the Indian corporate.

Since the announcement of vacating the driver’s seat, the corporate India has showered praise for the businessman, who is nationalist to the core and dreams of India becoming a Global Superpower in his lifetime. Sangeeta Reddy, joint managing director, Apollo Hospitals Group, described Mahindra as a person with “the most amazing combination of a fine mind, a fine administrator and a good human being”.

Mahindra is a visionary leader, who has diversified the group’s interest according to the consumer needs. Almost four years ago on September 10, 2015 veteran entrepreneur and Mahindra Group chairman made a prophetic statement about the automotive industry. “The age of access being offered by taxi-hailing apps like Uber and Ola is the biggest potential threat to auto industry,” said Mahindra. “A lot of youngsters who can own vehicles today don’t want to own one, but only need access to transportation,” he added. Since then, the company has made an investment in the ride-sharing startups, to remain competitive in new-age services.

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