UAE-based Indian entrepreneur offers help to compatriots hit by COVID-19

Dubai: An Indian expatriate in the UAE has been focusing the efforts of his company to provide repatriation tickets and food parcels for residents impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Harish Tahiliani, managing director of Arab India Spices, said the Ajman-based foodstuff firm recently provided, through the Indian Consulate in Dubai, 110 free tickets to Indian expats who lost their jobs or took salary cuts as a result of the economic downturn in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.

Also, the company, which has been operating in the UAE for 34 years, provided almost 40 additional tickets through social media platforms such as Dubai Vartha. These tickets were given to those who could not afford a flight home, pregnant women whose husband’s had lost their jobs and others in need.

Charity organisation

Arab India Spices, a major manufacturer and processor of pulses and spices, distributed 10,000 free food packs to residents who were financially impacted by the outbreak of the deadly virus.

The company also provided a charity organisation with food packets at a 40 per cent discounted price. The company sold its own products at a 50 per cent discount to “some selected outlets for the relief of the people who didn’t want to be named”.

Similar philanthropic activities by the company will continue, said Tahiliani, who has spent 24 years in the UAE.

‘This is continuous’

He added: “This is continuous. I’m not going to stop this. I’m grateful to this country and whatever I am today is due to the wise leadership of the UAE leaders and their very lenient policies, which offer a suitable platform to do hassle-free business.”

Tahiliani said: “I have spent more than half of my life in this country and I’ve grown here. It’s my duty to return to my countrymen regardless of caste and community. I feel we all are humans first and I should contribute the maximum possible, whatever is in my capacity.”