HAL pledges Rs 26.25 crore to PM fund

 Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) has on Monday pledged Rs 26.25 crore to the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM-CARES) Fund.

The state-owned aerospace and defence company's employees have donated their one-day salary amounting to Rs 6.25 crore. Cumulatively, it works out to Rs 26.25 crore.

"It's a small step from HAL in supporting the government's efforts in fighting the coronavirus pandemic," said R. Madhavan, HAL Chairman and Managing Director.

"Each HAL employee has committed a minimum of single-day's salary as donation," said Alok Verma, HR Director.

HAL has shut all manufacturing units and offices for March 24 to March 31. But people involved in essential services, including those dealing with maintenance, water supply, power and security at HAL townships, will remain on duty.

Earlier this month, the company had planned to set up logistics bases in Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Sri Lanka as part of initiatives to woo them to buy its light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas and military helicopters.

Madhavan had said the HAL was considering logistics bases in the four countries as they used a number of Russian-origin military aircraft and choppers, whose service ability was poor.

He had said HAL was focusing on boosting exports in sync with the government's priority and identified Southeast Asia, West Asia and North Africa to sell key platforms like Tejas, attack helicopter Rudra and advanced light helicopter Dhruv. IANS