Hyderabad, Mar 25 (IANS): GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo (GHAC), a division of GMR Air Cargo and Aerospace Engineering Limited (GACAEL) on Thursday announced a partnership with Singapore-based technology startup StaTwig to roll out a new technology-based solution for tracking and monitoring of vaccine shipments handled at the airport's cargo terminal.

The MoU giving effect to the partnership was signed by Saurabh Kumar, CEO-GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo and Sid Chakravarthy and Nrupul Ponugoti, Co-Founders - StaTwig.

Given its well-established position as the major pharma hub of Indian air cargo and one of the primary gateways for vaccine exports from India, GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo through this exclusive partnership will leverage the next-gen Blockchain technology to deliver enhanced track and trace solution and real time monitoring of vaccine shipments at GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo Terminal.

The partnership brings together domain expertise of GMR cargo and its time-tested relationships with vaccine exporters and Air Cargo trade with StaTwig's proven Blockchain platform to help this solution strengthen the supply chain of vaccine exports from India, GHAC said.

The development assumes significance given Hyderabad's position as one of the biggest vaccine manufacturers globally, with the region set to produce over 3.5 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccine doses over the next couple of years to aid the global battle against the pandemic.

"We are glad to announce this partnership for launch of VaccineLedger, a first of its kind initiative in Air Cargo Industry in India. This new technology product would enable us to deliver enhanced real-time visibility and status information on vaccine shipments to our customers," Saurabh Kumar, CEO-GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo said.

Pradeep Panicker, CEO-GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd., said with this strategic partnership with StaTwig, GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo will further consolidate its position as one of the best gateways in India for vaccine shipment handling.

"Technology and temperature controlled supply chain are crucial elements in the fight against Covid. GMR has always been a pioneer when it comes to leveraging the latest technology to deliver enhanced value and better experience to our customers and airport infrastructure users," said SGK Kishore, ED-South, Chief Innovation Officer-GMR Airports.