Mumbai, Apr 24 (IANS): Essar Group's CSR arm Essar Foundation has decided to increase its ongoing commitment of providing 1.25 million meals to 2 million meals to the poor and needy affected by the Covid-19 outbreak in India .

The Foundation has already provided almost 8 lakh meals to the vulnerable sections of the society, including the homeless, daily wage earners, transgender and women with a background of domestic violence.

"Of this, 20,000 meals per day is earmarked for the Maharashtra CM's Relief Fund," the group said in a statement.

Apart from the provision for daily meals, Essar Foundation has also donated 150,000 masks (N95 & 3Ply) and sanitisers to hospitals, police stations and BMC workers and 5,000 PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) kits to hospitals and police stations.

"The relief material is being distributed across Maharashtra, the state most acutely affected by the pandemic, and in other states like Gujarat, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu," the statement said.

"In South Mumbai, which has been declared as a Covid-19 hotspot, the foundation has been providing essential medical supplies to several government and private hospitals, as well as police stations," it added.