Godrej expands cold storage business for vaccines, bags order worth Rs 150 crore
NEW DELHI: Godrej Appliances has bagged orders worth Rs 150 crore from both central and state governments and PSUs, as well as international bodies, to supply medical refrigerators and freezers for vaccination programmes. The company has recently won orders in the range of Rs 10-30 crore from a handful of states such as Odisha. It is also anticipating orders from a few more states that have laid out plans for Covid-19 vaccination such as Maharashtra.
According to the company, the drive will lead to an up to 40 per cent jump in revenues from medical refrigeration equipment in FY21. “We have already completed about 55 per cent of the central government tender worth Rs 95 crore that we had won in October 2020, and we are hopeful to close it by March,” said Kamal Nandi, business head and EVP, Godrej Appliances, adding revenue is expected to rise by at least 30-40 per cent in the current financial year.
The company had recorded a revenue of approximately Rs 4,500 crore in FY20. The share of medical refrigeration equipment in overall revenue is also likely to go up to 7-8 per cent from the current five per cent. The market size of the medical refrigerator segment is pegged at Rs 2,000-2,500 crore, said Nandi.
Godrej on Tuesday also launched ultra-low temperature freezers, a development that could pave the way for the launch of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in the Indian market—both are required to be stored at -80°C. The firm is also using its mobile medical clinic platform to assist in the next phase of vaccine deployment.
The current production capacity for ultra-low temperature freezers is 12,000 units per annum, and Godrej says it is working towards quickly ramping up to 30,000 units per annum in order to meet the growing global demand. In the case of medical refrigerators, the company has increased its production capacity from 10,000 units per annum to over 35,000 units currently.