New Delhi DRUG firm Mankind Pharma on Monday said it has allocated Rs 40 crore to help Covid-19 patients and their families struggling for oxygen cylinders and concentrators across the country.

The last few months have been traumatic as the country is grappling with a deadly second wave of the pandemic and medical oxygen in India has been in severe shortage, Mankind Pharma said in a statement. To combat the coronavirus crisis, the company, "has allocated Rs 40 crore from its CSR (Corporate social responsibility) funds to help Covid patients and their families struggling for oxygen cylinders and concentrators," it added.

The company has decided to arrange around 3,000-3,500 each oxygen cylinders and concentrators which will be distributed pan India in different hospitals, Mankind Pharma said. The company has also set up a 70-bed isolation centre at Hotel New Destination in Gurugram for Covid patients, it added.

"The acute shortage of the oxygen cylinders and concentrators for the treatment of Covid-19 positive patients, led us to take this initiative to allocate 40 crore from our CSR Funds and if need be, we will increase the budgets as per the requirement," Mankind Pharma Executive Chairman RC Juneja said.

In April, Mankind Pharma also announced donating a sum of Rs 100 crore to support the families of all frontline workers, including doctors, police officers, pharmacists, and other healthcare workers, who lost their lives saving the lives of others during the pandemic.