New Delhi, Jun 3 (IANS): Snowman Logistics, Indias leading integrated temperature-controlled logistics service provider, in a strategic partnership with the Hyderabad-based Dr. Reddys, will provide temperature-controlled end-to-end logistics solutions for the delivery of the two-dose Sputnik Covid-19 vaccine across the country.

Snowman will manage the delivery through five of its high-capacity temperature-controlled warehouses in Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Kolkata, Chennai, and Bengaluru.

The company will offer storage, order processing, shipper packing and secondary transportation from these locations.

The locations are strategically located to take care of not just the state distribution, but the whole of the regional requirements.

The temperature, throughout, will be maintained between -20 degrees Celsius and -25 degrees Celsius. With this, Snowman will be the largest 3PL service provider for vaccines in the country offering national reach to Dr. Reddy's Lab.

Snowman Logistics has the capability to readily store 650 million doses at any given time, which can be increased to 1.05 billion doses with a short notice for pan-India distribution.

The company has the ability to store at upto -80 degrees Celsius, and provides real time temperature monitoring to ensure the correct conditions for vaccine distribution during the entire supply chain.

In addition, the company has a capex plan of roughly Rs 425 crore for capacity expansion, with a focus on the pharma and e-commerce sector where the company has seen huge increases in demand since the onset of the pandemic, especially as there is a dearth of capacities in the organised sector.

The company already has a record of servicing clients in the pharma sector such as Abbott, Alkem, Bharat Biotech, GlaxoSmithKline, Inventia, MSD (Merck Sharp & Dohme) Pharma), Novozymes, and Pfizer amongst others.

In the last year, the company has designed solutions catering to small volume locations where there are no cold storages (small towns, talukas, villagees), by using refrigerated containers, reach in freezers, etc for effective temperature-controlled deliveries.

Speaking on the partnership, Sunil Nair, CEO, Snowman Logistics Limited, said: "Vaccine delivery is the need of the hour. With this partnership with Dr. Reddy's, we aim to reach maximum institutions administering vaccines through our five high-capacity temperature-controlled warehouses. We are hopeful of carrying a seamless drive from these warehouses through our fleet of refrigerated vehicles maintaining the requisite temperatures throughout the delivery cycle. We will be delivering Sputnik vaccine to nearby states and cities as well from these strategic locations."

Ishaan Gupta, Joint Managing Director, Gateway Distriparks Limited and Director, Snowman, added: "Snowman Logistics is a key vertical of the Gateway group, and we are proud to have built the largest private temperature-controlled warehouse capacity in India through which we can serve the country's requirements at this difficult time. While we have been distributing Covid vaccines since the beginning of this year, we are excited about this partnership with Dr. Reddy's Laboratories through which we hope to provide COVID vaccines across India."