Godrej & Boyce Strengthens India’s Immunization Drive

KOCHI:
Godrej & Boyce, the flagship company of the Godrej Group, has been strengthening country’s immunization drive since 2015 through its business Godrej Appliances. Over the last two years, especially, they have been partnering the ongoing Covid vaccination drive in India through their advanced, made in India, medical refrigeration solutions especially build to safeguard the sensitive vaccines at just the right temperature. The vaccines run the risk of damage if they are subjected to fluctuations beyond the specified temperature band, leading to both health and economic implications. Godrej Appliances offers state-of-the-art refrigeration solutions that protect the vaccines and aid the country’s immunization mission. They have supplied over 24,000 units of Medical refrigerators and freezers over the past year.

With innovation at the heart of Godrej & Boyce’s philosophy, Godrej Appliances integrated the unique sure chill technology in its range of medical refrigerators. This cutting-edge technology provides a complete solution for medical refrigeration for both vaccines and blood bank storage. Godrej Appliances is currently deploying vaccine refrigerators which maintain a precise temperature of 2°C to 8°C to store the highly temperature sensitive Covaxin and CoviShield vaccines being administered in India. Medical Freezers which maintain -20°C are also being deployed for diluents and ice packs needed for the last mile delivery in the Covid vaccination drive. The ultra-low temperature freezers are a new addition to this portfolio and are particularly suited to mRNA based vaccines which are currently being deployed in other countries.

Kamal Nandi, Business Head and Executive Vice President, Godrej Appliances, part of Godrej & Boyce said, “Our ‘Made in India’ medical refrigerators are a testament to our commitment towards an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’. We are proud that our medical refrigeration solutions have helped the
immunization program in the country and have impacted countless lives. Over the years, we have adopted the latest technology and built medical refrigerators and freezers that delivered during critical healthcare challenges. Currently, we have ramped up our manufacturing capacities to meet additional demand.”

Godrej Appliances also recently received the ‘India Health and Wellness Awards 2020 – Gold’ by Integrated Health and Wellness (IHW) Council under the ‘COVID Protection Project’ category, for its role in strengthening the cold chain in Public Health Care facilities where Covid vaccine was stored and deployed.

Godrej & Boyce only recently entered the healthcare segment and expanded its range in the last two years. Currently, the healthcare sector revenues contribute less than 10% of G&B’s total revenues. The company sees significant potential from this sector even after the pandemic ebbs and looks forward toward strengthening the healthcare sector’s infrastructure in the years to come. G&B’s healthcare businesses have been growing between 22-25% over the past year. Being committed to a self-reliant India, around 90% of the products that G&B sells in healthcare sector are through local value addition. They are constantly working towards increasing this ratio through local manufacturing, sourcing and collaborations.