India reaches 84 pc of 2037 cold-storage target at over 40 mn tonnes
New Delhi, Oct 5
India's cold‑storage capacity has reached 40.22 million tonnes, equivalent to 84 per cent of the 48 million tonne requirement estimated for 2037‑38, a report said on Monday.
The report from FICCI and Grant Thornton Bharat said two decades of investment have created a substantial storage base and it identified first‑mile handling and refrigerated movement as priorities.
It noted that pack‑houses account for about 0.4 per cent of the long‑term target, reefer vehicles 3.8 per cent and ripening chambers 7.1 per cent. This infrastructure is essential for removing field heat, grading and packing produce close to farms, and maintaining temperature during transportation, the report noted.
Building the pack-houses, reefer vehicles and ripening chambers envisaged under the India Cooling Action Plan could require approximately Rs 1.75 lakh crore through 2037-38, equivalent to around Rs 8,800 crore annually.
India currently has 40.22 million tonnes of cold-storage capacity across 8,815 facilities. However, approximately three-quarters of this capacity is used for potatoes, while more than half is concentrated in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The report highlighted opportunities to develop multi-commodity and multi-temperature facilities closer to major horticultural production centres and connect them through reliable transport networks.
Rizwan Soomar Chairman, FICCI Committee on Logistics CEO & Managing Director - Subcontinent, Central Asia, Levant and Egypt, DP World, said that a robust cold chain encompasses the entire movement of temperature-sensitive products from the farm and first mile through storage, transportation, distribution, and the final point of consumption.
The report showed that three-quarters of cold storage holds one crop, potato, while India loses 13.9 to 43.4 million tonnes of fruit and vegetables a year, mostly before the first cold point and in transit.
India loses an estimated 17 million to 47 million tonnes of food each year across horticulture, dairy, meat, poultry and fish. Post-harvest losses across 54 crops are valued at approximately Rs 1.5 lakh crore annually.
— IANS
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