The use of solar energy for the storage of vaccines is not new in India. However, the pressure for this source of energy has increased after the outbreak of coronavirus. Over 29,000 cold chain storage facilities across India are used to store Covid-19 and other vaccines. To meet India’s urgent demand for Covid-19 vaccine storage, the government reached out to Godrej Appliances, which recently came up with an indigenous solar-powered vaccine cold-chain solution. Godrej Appliances Business Head and Executive Vice President Kamal Nandi spoke with Mint about how the company is supplying medical equipment and freezers to state depots at multiple locations, which are then used for Covid-19 vaccination in government hospitals and health centres. are planted. program. Edited excerpt from interview:
How many states have shown interest in solar powered freezers for Covid-19 vaccines?
Almost all the states in the Northeast, parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat, Tehri and its upstream areas in Uttarakhand, and the Brahmaputra belt require solar powered installations… Our installations are designed to withstand cyclonic wind forces. and it is ideal for areas. above.
How many orders has the central government placed for freezers, especially after the pandemic?
So far, we have received orders from the central and state governments for over 20,000 units, which includes both our medical refrigerators and freezers.
How much has the company invested in medical refrigerators post Kovid-19?
We increased our production of medical refrigerators by 300% last year and are looking for ways to increase supply. We have developed several sets of equipment, fixtures and other infrastructure, such as an additional conveyor line. Our Shirwal plant had an installed capacity of 10,000 medical refrigerators per annum, which has now been increased to 35,000 units per annum. The Mohali plant has an installed capacity of manufacturing 50,000 medical deep-freezers per year.
What was the situation with respect to the medical freezer before these products were developed?
Godrej forayed into the precision medical cooling space five years ago. As of now, we are the only Indian manufacturer whose products meet World Health Organization (WHO) Performance, Quality and Safety (PQS) standards. Almost all goods meeting the PQS norms were imported earlier. Godrej has not only been able to ensure quality certification but also has inbuilt features required in our country like high holdover of up to 10 days even during power outage and inbuilt power stabilizer, which are suited to the Indian climate.
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