CARGOCONNECT-NOVEMBER 2021 - Flipbook - Page 67
FEATURE
The beauty of logistics is that it shall reach wherever it smells demand. While
LSPs are in every corner of the globe, the challenge for perishables in our
country is the lack of intent to quality over price and this changes the whole
game. Perishables need a defined environment like temperature and humidity
to sustain its quality and enhance its shelf life. This aspect is often overlooked
at all channels of distribution leading to high level of wastage which
costs more as compared to marginal investment on quality.
SANJAY SHARMA, Vice President- Corporate Sales and Distribution,
Coldman Logistics
small volume locations where there are
no cold storages (small towns, talukas,
villages, etc.) by using refrigerated containers, reach in freezers, etc. for effective
temperature-controlled deliveries.
Government and stakeholder
Initiatives and Updates
schemes available from the government
for cold chain storage set up, but no viable schemes available for transportation at present,” Gopi says.
Importantly, according to Gopi,
transporting perishables requires temperature-controlled environment till
last-mile delivery. Given the small package sizes of products between tier II and
III cities, the large costs incurred in
transportation makes conventional solutions unviable for most stakeholders and
forces them to break the cold chain or
use potentially hazardous substances
like dry-ice especially towards consumer/retail end of the chain. This severely
impacts product quality.
Snowman, Gopi informs, has designed solutions especially for catering to
In the last few years, various efficient
schemes and incentives have been laid
out by the Indian government and private
authorities for developing highly reliable
and efficient cold chain infrastructure for
transportation of perishables.
Last year, the government introduced three new farm laws: Farmer’s
Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020; Essential
Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2020;
and Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and
Farm Services Bill, 2020.
The scheme for integrated cold chain
and value-addition listed under the
Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana of the Ministry of Food Processing
Industries (MoFPI) is said to boost the
cold chain industry by facilitating the
development of infrastructure facilities
at the farm level.
The farm to fork solution has got a
huge boost by the new farm laws, which
allows value addition at the farm-gate.
MoFPI has also helped set up more
food processing plants while the National Horticulture Board (NHB) and the
Agricultural and Processed Food Product Export Development Authority
(APEDA) have helped increase the infrastructure of cold chain facilities.
To promote growth in the industry,
the government has been providing a lot
of subsidies and incentives. The ‘Make in
India’ initiative has bolstered manufacturers from India’s tier II and III cities.
Getting approvals from the government has also become less time consum-
ing and cold chain entities are getting
priority over other sectors.
Government had been encouraging
new start-ups and logistical giants to
increase their presence in the cold chain
segment. Start-ups are even receiving
funding to increase the production of
agricultural goods while maintaining
the quality of their organic products.
Reports indicate, MoFPI is striving
to establish an integrated and seamless
network of cold chain grid and infrastructure for the uninterrupted transfer
of perishables from production to consumption areas/centres. This would
maintain the safety, quality, and quantity and storage of perishable produce
such as fruits and vegetables, dairy
products, meat, fish marine, poultry,
ready to eat food products.
MoFPI recently announced that 27
projects were approved in Inter-Ministerial Approval Committee (IMAC)
meetings under the scheme for cold
chain, value-addition and preservation
infrastructure of PMKSY.
The projects have been approved
across the states of Andhra Pradesh,
Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka,
Kerala, MP, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil
Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh. These 27 new
integrated cold chain projects will leverage a total investment of 743 crores for
the creation of modern, innovative infrastructure and effective cold chain facilities for the food processing sector across
the nation. These projects with a grantin-aid of Rs 208 crores will help increase
efficiency and sustainability in India’s
food supply chain.
In fact, as many as 85 cold chain
projects have been considered for financial assistance throughout the country
to boost the government’s efforts towards bridging the gap in supply chain
and building world-class cold chain infrastructure.
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