The cold chain market in India is expected to more than double to $8 billion by 2015 from the present $3 billion on rising investments. This is according to a study conducted by YES Bank and the PHD Chamber of Commerce.
Releasing the report at a conference organised by PHD Chamber, Planning Commission member, Saumitra Chaudhuri said the cold chain sector has somehow lagged others and there is a “lot of catching up to do”.
Despite several Government programmes, Chaudhuri said, “the investments have been very weak in cold chain sector,” while emphasising the need for adequate cold storage to prevent post-harvest losses. Investments in cold storage infrastructure should start now to achieve a perceptible change in the 12th and 13th Plan periods, he said.
Girish Aivalli, Country Head of Food and Agribusiness Strategic Advisory & Research, Yes Bank, said the cold storage segment in the country is expected to grow at 16-17 per cent over the next four years. However, the cold chain business faced challenges in terms of high real estate costs and long gestation period.
India has 30 million tonnes of cold storage facility, while the country needs an additional capacity of 9-10 million tonne. Existing cold storage facilities available in India are mostly for a single commodity and around 80 per cent of them are utilised for potato storage resulting in skewed capacity utilisation, Aivalli said.
The emergence of organised retail and changes in foreign direct investment norms are expected to open up immense opportunities for the cold chain sector.
Sanjeev Chopra, Joint Secretary, Agriculture Ministry, said about 50 per cent of the cold storage capacity in the country has come up in the past eight years.