The food processing industry is one of the largest sectors in India in terms of production, growth, consumption, and export. The cold chain is the backbone for sustaining this scale of food production and processing. However, the major concern is that the agriculture industry loses a considerable amount of produce every year due to various contributing factors. One of the major reasons for the food waste is the lack of an efficient cold chain infrastructure that includes refrigerated transport, pack houses, collection centers, and cold storage. 

A study on All India Cold-chain Infrastructure Capacity (AICIC-2015) carried out by NABARD Consultancy Service (NABCONS) assessed requirement of 350 lakh MT capacity of cold storage for perishable fruits and vegetables. Currently, there is 374.25 Lakh MT capacity of cold storages is available in the country.

Cold Storage industry at a glance

• Projected investment in domestic capacity: Rs 16,000-21,000 crore
• Existing capacity: 37-39 million tonnes
• Total number of cold storages: 7,645
• Private sector ownership of cold storages: 95%

Top potato producers of Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal make up 55-60 per cent of the overall domestic cold storage capacity. The cold storage industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13-15% over fiscals 2019-23, mainly driven by rising demand for processed food, fresh fruits & vegetables, seafood and bio-pharmaceuticals in exports markets.

Considering that potato produce in the current 2018-19 season alone is estimated at more than 52 MT, the sub-optimum capacity of cold storages only gets magnified. Another highly perishable horticultural commodity tomato is estimated to touch almost 20 MT in production this season, thus further dwarfing the cold storage capacity. UP has nearly 2,000 cold storages with combined capacity of nearly 15 MT, followed by Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana etc. 

Currently 68% of existing cold storage capacity is used for potato and yet farmers aren't getting the right price. In next 4-5 years Rs 21,000 crore will be invested in setting up or upgrading cold storages to address the problem of stockpiling of perishable commodities.

The current cold storage capacity in India is pegged at 37-39 million tonnes (MT). According to official statistics, there are about 7,645 cold storages in the country with 68 per cent of the capacity being used for potato, while 30 per cent is multi-commodity cold storage.

Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH):

Department of Agriculture Cooperation & Farmers Welfare is implementing Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) under which financial assistance is provided for various horticulture activities including setting up of cold storages. The component is demand/entrepreneur driven for which Government assistance in the form of credit linked back ended subsidy is available at the rate of 35% (for general areas) and 50% (for hilly and scheduled areas) of eligible capital cost of the project for both public and private sector enterprises.

Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY):

Ministry of Food Processing Industries is implementing the Scheme for Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure as one of the component of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY) with the objective of reducing post-harvest losses of horticulture & non-horticulture produce and providing remunerative price to farmers for their produce. Under the scheme, Ministry provides financial assistance in the form of grant-in-aid at the rate 35% for general areas and 50% for North East States, Himalayan States, ITDP areas and Islands for storage and transport infrastructure and at the rate of 50% and 75% respectively for value addition and processing infrastructure subject to a maximum of Rs.10 crore per project for setting up Integrated Cold Chain projects including Irradiation facility. Standalone cold storages are not covered under the Scheme.

State wise distribution of Cold Storages as on 31.08.2020

(Source: Directorate of Marketing and Inspection (DMI) upto 2009, National Horticulture Board (NHB), National Horticulture Mission (NHM), Horticulture Mission for North East & Himalayan (HMNEH) & Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI))