Donating Money and Relief Goods
While their plants in India remain locked down, South Korean companies are donating money and relief goods to the country's central and local governments to help them contain the COVID-19 outbreak.
Samsung Electronics’ India unit plans to donate 200 million rupees, or approximately 3.2 billion won, to India’s central and local governments.
It will donate 150 million rupees to a fund set up by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the remainder to the governments of Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu states. Samsung Electronics has production plants in the two states.
Earlier, the company provided medical devices, including X-ray equipment, ultrasonic testing devices, masks and protection gear, to India.
Hyundai Motor also delivered 50 million rupees, about 800 million won, to the state of Tamil Nadu, where it operates a factory, and plans to donate funds to Modi's fund.
The automaker will also deliver testing kits that can test up to 25,000 people to Indian health authorities. In particular, the company plans to outsource the production of ventilators as the country currently has only 48,000 ventilators, which are hardly enough when the number of COVID-19 patients increases.
It also plans to provide masks, sanitizers, protection gear and waste incinerators.
LG Electronics plans to donate food enough to feed 1 million people as low-income people such as day laborers have been suffering due to lockdowns. It has also provided foodstuffs to 1,000 at-risk individuals near its factory in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
The company has also been providing air cleaners, water purifiers and TVs to hospitals and quarantine facilities across India. The governor of Tamil Nadu expressed thanks for the company's support in a news conference.