Arvind announces launch of

Arvind announces launch of revolutionary anti-viral fabrics under its “Intellifabrix” brand  

Arvind partners with Swiss Textile Innovator HeiQ to introduce HeiQ Viroblock technology in India

Arvind will offer Shirting & Suiting Fabrics, Readymade Garments and Face Masks using this technology

While fabrics have been usually associated with fashion, as the world faces the COVID-19 crisis, there is an urgent need for antiviral fabrics in our daily lives. Arvind Limited, India’s leading textile-to-retail conglomerate today announced launch of Anti-Viral Textile technology for the First time in India under its brand “Intellifabrix”. Arvind has partnered with Swiss Textile Innovation leader HeiQ Materials AG in association with Taiwanese Specialty chemical major M/S Jintex Corporation to introduce this revolutionary anti-virus technology in India.

Research shows that viruses and bacteria, can remain active on textile surfaces for up to two days. Garments treated with HeiQ Viroblock actively inhibit viruses and kill them upon contact, helping to minimize the potential for re-transmission of pathogens through clothing.

Announcing the launch of the anti-viral fabrics under INTELLIFABRIX Mr. Kulin Lalbhai, Executive Director, Arvind Limited says, “The world is facing an unprecedented crisis due to COVID-19. In this context, we are committed to keep our customers safe and that is why we have tied up with HeiQ to bring its revolutionary Viroblock technology to India. We are excited with this partnership and in a very short period of time we will introduce into the Indian market fabrics that will provide best-in-class viral protection and are fashionable at the same time.”

HeiQ Viroblock is one of the most advanced global antiviral products created by HeiQ, a Swiss textile innovator. HeiQ Viroblock significantly enhances the antiviral log reduction and reduces viral infectivity by 99.99% and is one of the first textile technologies in the world to claim such efficacy on SARS-CoV-2. HeiQ Viroblock has been designed to stay active on treated garments for 30 gentle domestic washes, ensuring safety for the consumer that lasts for a good part of the garment’s life.

Talking about the partnership Mr. Carlo Centonze, CEO, HeiQ Group said, "HeiQ Viroblock is a special combination of our advanced silver and vesicle technology that has been proven effective against the human coronavirus 229E & SARS-CoV-2, causing Covid-19, with 99.99% reduction of virus in 30 minutes. It is a safe, hypoallergenic and patent pending technology. We are pleased to partner with Innovative Brand ‘Arvind’ in India to offer this technology across their range of products”

Innovation is one of the key pillars of Arvind’s growth and success. From innovation in fibre to sustainability in fashion, Arvind has been revolutionizing the fashion industry and powering high-fashion brands across the world with continuous innovative offerings. Arvind has led the battle against COVID-19 by manufacturing PPE suits and Masks using its rich technical textiles knowledge, and now the company is happy to bring this breakthrough innovation of anti-viral fabrics under the INTELLIFABRIX brand to the Indian market

Supporting the Underprivileged in the time of

Supporting the Underprivileged in the time of the Global Pandemic: Indus Action

Rapid response strategy developed to reduce socio-economic vulnerabilities

The global pandemic due to the SARS CoV-2 virus has consumed our daily lives, creating a new normal and world order. Undoubtably, the hardest hit world-wide are the under privileged.

To achieve the first Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of zero poverty, 1 million people will have to lift themselves out of poverty every week across the world. While India had lifted 271 million citizens out of poverty, the fastest rate in the last decade, the Covid-19 public health crisis continues to undo this progress and is likely to push the last half billion citizens back into extreme poverty while keeping 900 million+ Indians below the poverty line.

In response to the epidemic, the Government of India has announced welfare packages, along with an economic stimulus package to absorb the shocks to the informal and small business economy. India's own Marshall Plan is estimated to have a financial incentive of Rs 5 lakh crore to ensure economic resilience of workers and small businesses. Nearly 50% of this spending is unlikely to reach the target homes due to gaps in state capacity. Migrant workers have less access to food and housing security infrastructure, as we have seen recently from migrant protests across the country. To ensure 100% realization of this safety net for the last half billion citizens, last mile delivery speed and efficacy time delivery is the need of the hour.

Indus Action (IA) has developed a rapid response strategy to mitigate the socio-economic vulnerabilities of less fortunate citizens due to the epidemic. The main focus is to ensure that citizens are able to take advantage of emergency social security in terms of cash and in-kind transfers, causing an economic setback to their livelihoods. This is being done by pro-active outbound calling to citizens by over 2000+ motivated volunteers to ensure last mile delivery of food, health and direct benefit transfers over the past two weeks. Over 1,000 daily calls are being made in states including Karnataka, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Bihar, Gujarat, MP,Maharashtra, UP, Rajasthan and Delhi to a current database of over 4.5 lac disadvantaged families.

Additionally, a national helpline has been set up to address citizen grievances across 19 States.

The solution includes a growing network of 2,000+ citizen champions, creating a national dashboard to reflect progress, daily data analytics reports and fortnightly governance reports.

General Trends:

Need/ Metric	Average*	Highest	Lowest
Lack of Food	32%	Bihar - 87%	TS – 12%
Need for Medicines	13%	Kerala - 37%	GJ – 1%
Unemployment post lock-down	42%	Delhi - 59%	UP – 31%
No access to Welfare Schemes	30%	Bihar - 73%	Chhattisgarh – 8%

* Number of respondents per State varies

1.       Access to ration is limited and food being sold is overpriced

2.       People are not sure if ‘Jan Dhan’ accounts have been credited with money due

3.       Landlords have not eased rent dues

4.       Application for pension by the elderly is a challenge

5.       Distribution of ration is seeing an imbalance with some regions receiving some essentials, while some receiving just rice and salt

6.       Access to fresh vegetables and cooking oil is an issue

7.       Cab drivers working for private players cannot avail benefits applicable to cab/taxi drivers

8.       Severe lack of awareness of Welfare Schemes such as Jan Dhan Yojana, Garib Kalyan Yojana, Kissan Samman Yojana, etc. in which citizens can avail Direct Benefit Transfers

Given the fact that there has been a tremendous influx of leniency from citizens across the country in terms of cash and kindness, volunteers associated with Indus Action's rapid response strategy have worked to connect donors and receivers. Due to control / lock-down in many parts of the country, free and easy movement is not always possible, although necessary police permission is taken and deep logistics arrangements ensure that the nearest donor is connected to the receiver; Be it for food, medicine or other essential supplies.

Indus Action’s mission of moving 1 million+ families irreversibly out of poverty in India by 2030 is supported by Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, Ernst and Young Foundation, Cisco, Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, Uber India and Obama Foundation, among others. This mission is driven forward by a full-time team of 55 public policy professionals across 19 States.