Indian businessman in UAE donates Dh2.1 to Kerala CM
Vows to continue to extend 'full-fledged support' to government initiatives that will help in rebuilding state
Abu Dhabi: Dr B.R. Shetty, Founder of Finablr Group, and Chairman of Unimoni, UAE Exchange and NMC Healthcare, handed over a check of Rs40 million (Dh2.1 million) to the Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
“Despite the catastrophic event, the resilience shown by the people of Kerala is commendable. The rehabilitation of the nearly a million displaced is a critical priority and we will continue to extend our full-fledged support to government initiatives that will help in rebuilding Gods own country,” Shetty said in a statement.
He was accompanied by Promoth Manghat, Group CEO and Executive Director of Finablr, Prasanth Manghat, CEO and Executive Director of NMC Healthcare, and Amit Saxena, MD and CEO of Unimoni India during the meeting with the chief minister.
Besides this contribution, Dr Shetty has also contributed Dh5 million (Rs95 million) to the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation, which is facilitating the provisioning of relief support from the UAE.
Promoth Manghat said: “Our teams are in full action, across our global network, to extend every support possible for the millions affected and with support pouring in from all quarters, we are confident that Kerala will soon recover from this disaster,” he said.
UAE Exchange and Unimoni had globally waived off the service fee on remittances to the Kerala Chief Ministers Distress Relief Fund.
Another Abu Dhabi-based businessman Dr Shamsheer Vayalil, chairman and managing director of VPS Healthcare, has announced Rs500 million (Dh26.29 million) for rehabilitation and reconstruction projects in Kerala. “
VPS Healthcare is launching a Rs50 crore [Rs500 million] initiative designed to aid in the recovery and rebuilding of Kerala in the aftermath of the devastating 2018 floods,” he tweeted.
“Our teams have been on the ground and will continue to support the rescue and recovery efforts with clothing, food, medicine, water. We will ramp up those efforts as the recovery and rebuilding efforts get underway,” said Dr Vayalil who is from Kerala.
He said instead of donating money to any government or non-government agencies, his company will take up independent rehabilitation and reconstruction projects in education, healthcare and housing. A committee of prominent Indians will supervise the projects in a transparent manner, Dr Vayalil said.