The Steel Authority of India (SAIL) Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) has donated Rs 8.24 crore to The Akshaya Patra Foundation as part of their CSR initiative. This undertaking, called Project Akshaya Patra, will benefit 57,000 children in and around Rourkela, across 431 schools

SAIL, RSP has set up a modern, centralised kitchen at Sector 7, equipped with everything it will need to execute cooking on this scale. The kitchen includes boilers, rice cleaning machines, cold storage, custom made utensils, conveyor belts, along with packing and cleaning facilities. Twenty customized meal distribution vehicles have also been donated to transport the cooked food from the kitchen to schools located in Lathikata and Bisra blocks, and Rourkela municipality area.

(Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Vice Chairman of Akshaya Patra Chanchalapathi Dasa, and other dignitaries)

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Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik dedicated this undertaking to the people of the region, alongside SAIL Chairman CS Verma, RSP’s CEO GS Prasad, Vice Chairman of Akshaya Patra Sri Chanchalapathi Dasa, and other dignitaries. Mr. Patnaik cut the ribbon to signify the inauguration of the new kitchen and also flagged off the new vehicles.

The dignitaries were taken on a tour of the kitchen where they were explained the operational process through which nutritious, tasty food on such a large scale is prepared in a safe and hygienic manner before being dispatched to the schools. Mr. Patnaik and other dignitaries also helped serve the Akshaya Patra mid-day meal to school children in the region.