Habesha Steel Mills is one of the well-known firms in Ethiopia. It is owned by an Indian businessperson Mr. Kishen Raval who is also known for his philanthropy. As the fight for coronavirus pandemic taking toll on government resources, this company has pitched in to help Ethiopian government by pledging donation worth 50 million Ethiopian Birr. This amount is equivalent to INR 11.54 Crore. The donation would be used for medical supplies including oxygen, to health facilities to help the fight against the Corona virus pandemic.
The decision for donation was taken when the government’s call for the support to mitigate the effects of corona virus in Ethiopia from industrial houses. The news of donation was shared by Consulate General of Ethiopia in Mumbai, His Excellency Demeke Atnafu Ambulo to Mumbai Messenger Newspaper.
According to Kishen Raval, Managing Director of Habesha steel, “This is a time of pandemic and it is our prime concern to fight against hidden enemy and we should stand together at the time of crisis. Our factory will produce the products in its own factory which is located around Dukem, Oromia region”.
Raval adds “Besides giving the medical supplies, the factory is also planning to support around 500 people, who are living around our factory during lock down. We are planning to serve them cooked hot meal, because, if we provide them the materials there will be a lot of people who don’t have the other ingredients to prepare the food. We want to be a role model for other industries, our collective and concerted efforts to help one another in times of great need will be the only way to overcome this difficult time.”
Consulate General of Ethiopia in Mumbai, His Excellency Demeke Atnafu Ambulo, speaking exclusively to Mumbai Messenger Newspaper said “It’s perfectly in line with all-weather robust, strong and excellent partnerships and collaboration that happily exist between Ethiopia and India. It reaffirms the continuation of Indians friendly gestures of brotherhood by favorable responding to the national call of Ethiopia, in times of necessity. We are sincerely grateful for such commendable philanthropic gesture, which would further cement and develop the long-standing bond of ties between the two countries. Both countries enjoyed long traditions of friendship based on mutual trust and respect which goes back about 2,000 years of recorded history”.
His Excellency Demeke Atnafu Ambulo Consulate General of Ethiopia in Mumbai
As a Corporate Social Responsibility – CSR, Habesha Steel is a pioneer in social causes. The company has more than 1500 employees. It has built 106 houses for displaced Ethiopian citizens, delivered a constant fresh water supply to Taddecha village in Dukem. It also provides the cost of education for many children every year and regularly donates food, clothes, blankets etc to the less fortunate in the area. They have built road and speed breakers for municipal school due to the many accidents whilst children were walking to school. They have also helped the police force by building police guard posts at different areas.
About Habesha Steel Mills PLC: Headed by Kishen Raval as Managing Director, established in 2007 under Ethiopian law. It is one of the largest steel factories in Ethiopia. It produces full range of reinforcement bars for construction of residential and commercial structures, flyovers, bridges, and power plants. The company believe in supporting the country’s development through creating a large number of employment opportunities, substituting rebar imported into the country, saving millions of dollars in foreign currency. In Addition, they have been using pure steel scrap collected through various suppliers creating more job opportunity for the local community, reduce the amount of currency used for imported billets and playing the role of environmental care by cleaning unused metal scrap accumulated everywhere.
From Tata, Birla to Ambani, India’s wealthy happily donated to fight Covid19
In India too, India Inc opens its purse. Countries top leading industrial houses have donated whole heatedly to fight coronavirus. The list is endless, Tata Sons and Tata Trusts combined contributed Rs 1,500 crore, besides Rs 500 crore will be used to manufacture personal protective equipment. Aditya Birla group Rs. 500 Crore and other ancillary products, Reliance Industries contributed Rs 500 crore towards PM Fund, Rs 5 crore each towards Maharashtra CM and Gujarat CM’s funds. Wipro Group Rs 1125 crore. PSU Oil ventures Rs 1092.29 crore. L&T Rs 650 crore, also pledged Rs 150 crore to PM’s fund along with Rs 500 crore per month to support about 160,000 contract workers. Paytm Rs 500 crore, Coal India Ltd. Rs 220 crore, ITC Rs 150 crore, HDFC Group Rs 150 crore, LIC Rs 105 crore, Infosys Rs 100 crore. JSW Steel, Bajaj Group, Infosys, PhonePe, Torrent Group, Hero Cycles, Adani Foundation and Social media platform TikTok have pledged Rs 100 crore each, SBI employees contributed two days’ salary amounting to Rs 100 crore and has also committed 0.25 per cent of its annual profit. Vedanta Resources Rs 100 crore. Kotak Mahindra Bank Rs 50 crore, Rs 10 crore towards Maharashtra CM fund. BCCI contributed Rs 51 crore, SAIL Rs 30 crore, IFFCO, Fossil Fuel Company, NLC India, Jindal Steel & Power, and two-wheelers company TVS Group pledged Rs 25 crore each. Dabur Group India Rs 21 crore, T Series Films Rs 12 crore, PSU SJVN Rs 8.32 crore, Hyundai Motor India 7 crore, Google chief Sundar Pichai has donated Rs 5 crore, Motilal Oswal Rs 5 crore, LIC’s Golden Jubilee Fund Rs 5 crore. Cello Group Rs 3.5 crore. DCB Bank Rs 1 crore.
Editor in Chief : Mewati SItaram
