Kerala floods: HDFC Bank to adopt 30 villages, donate Rs 10 crore

Mumbai: HDFC Bank on Wednesday said it is adopting 30 villages and donating Rs 10 crore for relief efforts in flood-hit Kerala.

The private sector lender also announced a waiver in late payment fees on monthly loan installments and credit cards for August to its customers in Kerala.

"We stand with the people of Kerala in this hour of distress," the bank's managing director Aditya Puri said. As part of the village adoption, the bank will set up medical camps and rebuild health centres, support schools' renovations and reconstruction, and impart skills training to restore livelihoods, an official statement said.

The bank said it will consult the state government to finalise the measures and stressed that this is a long-term plan where its local non-profit partners will deliver the on-ground help. Apart from adopting villages, the bank has contributed Rs 10 crore to the Chief Minister's Disaster Relief Fund. Its employees have contributed a day's salary, while the rest has come from the bank.

"While we continue to pray for their speedy return to normalcy, we hope through our efforts we are able to make a small but meaningful impact on people's lives as they come out of their suffering," said Puri.

The lender said most of its branches and 291 of the 331 automated teller machines (ATMs) have been restored. The bank has also enabled contributions to the CM's disaster relief fund.

A total of 474 people have died in the rains and floods since May 29 when the southwest monsoon set in over Kerala.