16 July, 2004, Hyderabad: AIMED at lending a helping hand to the farming community in Andhra Pradesh, the Chennai-based Rs S,266-crore Murugappa Group, through its community initiatives channel - AMM Foundation - proposes to come out with a master plan on drip irrigation shortly.

The Group Director, Mr A. Vellayan, told newspersons here on Thursday that both Coromandel Fertilisers and Godavari Fertilisers were currently preparing the master plan, which would be ready in the next couple of months.

The Murugappa Group is also planning to prepare another master plan for Andhra Pradesh to recharge the water table in the villages so that the level remains reasonably comfortable even during the drought conditions, the AMM Foundation Trustee, Mr M.V. Subbiah, said.

According to Mr Vellayan, both Coromandel and Godavari are currently in the process
of establishing direct contact with the agriculture community by avoiding wholesalers and retailers for offering complete farm solutions to the farmers.

Mr Subbiah said the Murugappa Group has been making 'large investments in Andhra 'Pradesh in recent years and. has major plans to discharge its social responsibility in this part of the country.

As part of this, AMM Foundation has contributed Rs 60 lakh to St. Ann's Hospital at Visakhapatnam. The fund was used to construct a new block in the Hospital, which is being inaugurated on Friday.

As a tribute to Dr Bharat Ram, who served as Chairman of Coromandel Fertilisers for 40 years and his long association :with . the Murugappa family, the new block in the StAnn's Hospital will be named after him, Mr Subbiah said.

The Murugappa Group companies have been contributing 1 per cent of post-tax profit into AMM Foundation towards discharging the group's community initiativtes.

The foundation, which has spent a cumulative amount of around Rs 100 crore till date on community initiatives', currently operates four schools and a polytechnic college in Chennai and four hospitals at various locations in Tamil Nadu

"The Murugappa Group believes social harmony can only be sustained when individuals and corporations work together to share learnings and opportunities. It is an emotional and not a financial issue," Mr Subbiah said.

Apart from contributing profits of Murugappa Group companies on community initiatives, the members of the founding family, including women, spend significant amount of time on all foundation matters. "Giving money is easy. Investing time, energy and enthusiasm is important,' Mr Subbiah said.