U’khand requires additional 20.40 lakhs MT of cold storage space

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 2

India’s food chain is most fragmented in the world. The food wastage estimates vary from 18 to 40 per cent as per different studies carried out in this space.

Lack of adequate cold chain infrastructure and the absence of a well-integrated food processing industry are responsible for this wastage. These two sectors are thus, highly critical in terms of taking India from languishing due to this inefficient and wasteful food system to becoming a global food hub.

A recent report “India: World’s Emerging Food Leader” released by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industries in association with Techno Pack states there were huge gaps in the existing cold storage facilities and the required storage. The report highlighted that the food bowls of India -- Uttar Pradesh and Haryana – are far too behind when it comes to adequate cold storage facilities to prevent food grain from perishing. The largest state of India -- Uttar Pradesh -- which is a major producer of wheat, rice and sugarcane lacks cold storage facilities. The gap prevailing in required and existing cold storage facility is over 20 lakh metric tonnes (MT) in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. In Uttar Pradesh and Uttrakhand, the existing demand for cold storage facilities is 122 lakh metric tonnes. However, the current capacity is to store 100 lakh metric tonnes.

The tropical fruits growing belts in Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand also lack in creating adequate cold storage facilities.

In Jammu and Kashmir, 7.37 lakh metric tonnes cold storage facility is required while the figure is 4.87 lakh metric tonnes in Himachal. In Jammu and Kashmir, the cold storage capacity is just 0.43 lakh metric tonnes while it is 0.20 lakh metric tonnes in Himachal. Punjab is utilising 13.18 lakh metric tonnes cold storage facilities, though the demand is slightly higher at 13.45 lakh metric tonnes.

The report further states that India has approximately 6,300 cold storage facilities across the country with a total capacity of 30.11 million metric tons (MT) till 2012. About 60 per cent of this capacity is concentrated in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal and Punjab.

India’s cold chain industry is also fragmented and comprises 3,500 players operating in this space. Considering the current infrastructure, India can store only about 10 per cent of its total production. One of the another reason the cold storage facilities are not able to fulfill the demand is that most of the cold storage facilities in India are single commodity based and use outdated technology.

As per estimates, 105 million metric tonnes perishable produce transported annually between different cities in India, but there are only 25,000 refrigerated vans in the country and 20,000 out of the total transporting only dairy products. Sharad Jaipuria, president, PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industries, said, “There is a need to develop an economically viable solution which integrates food supply linkages from production centres. This will not only reduce food wastage, but will also contribute to the food processing industry storage facilities.”

Some of the key challenges faced by the industry include erratic power supply, high land cost, lack of indigenous technology, last mile distribution, etc. “There is a need for creation of an additional 31 million metric tonnes of cold storage capacity in the country and therefore, there is a huge opportunity for private sector investment in this sector,” added Jaipuria.

The report said there was a need to develop an economically viable solution which integrates food supply from production centres to consumption centres. This will not only reduce food wastage but also contribute to the food processing industry. The cold chain industry is very crucial for the growth of the food industry but it was not growing at an adequate pace, despite the demand due to being non-remunerable at present.

The PHD Chamber also forecasted that Indian food processing industry is likely to register a consistent growth rate of over 10 per cent from 2015 in view of its emerging potential, in which private sector has already begun to invest to realise its impending worth.

Currently, Indian food processing industry is growing at an average growth rate of 8.4 per cent. The report projects that its food processing sector, which ranks at fifth presently world over in terms of production, growth, consumption and export is likely to reach at US$194 billion by the end of 2015.