Fairfax Financial Holdings announced that it has made a commitment of US$5 million (approximately INR 37 crore) to fund initiatives to assist India with the recent surge in COVID-19 cases and the country's urgent needs around the pandemic.
The contribution is being made together with the Fairfax India Charitable Trust and Fairfax India Holdings Corp.
The first proposed initiative by Fairfax calls for rapidly creating emergency hospital facilities. The plan is to coordinate with its investee companies, Quess Corp. and Bangalore International Airport, and work with the local government and tap the expertise of Dexterra Group, a Fairfax investee company in Canada.
Fairfax said it is working with its Indian investee companies to determine further initiatives.
In addition to these initiatives, Fairfax said it will commit the funds necessary to respond to the needs of the employees of its Indian investee companies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We are saddened by the current crisis in India resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Fairfax wishes to assist India in traversing this incredibly difficult time and are hopeful that our commitment will provide some relief to India and its health-care system," Prem Watsa, chairman and chief executive officer of Fairfax, commented.
Fairfax is a holding company with subsidiaries engaged in property/casualty insurance and reinsurance and the associated investment management.