Firms can set up cold storage centres near railway stations

A railway ministry proposal to allow corporate entities set up cold storage centres alongside railway stations will help check the wastage of perishable commodities due to lack of proper storage facilities.

In a move which may finally initiate the Kisan Vision project outlined by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee in her Budget speech last financial year, the railways have invited expressions of interest (EoIs) from corporate entities to set up cold storage centres alongside the stations.

“Every year, fruit and vegetables worth around Rs 40,000 crore are lost due to lack of proper storage facilities. The railways want to encourage creating facilities for setting up cold storage and temperature-controlled perishable cargo centres and facilitate its transportation on the public-private partnership basis,” a senior railway ministry official said.

Indian Railways operates refrigerated parcel vans on mail trains on some routes. The EoIs have been invited to frame a policy to extend the service on identified routes. The ministry eventually intends to increase the number of refrigerated vans on the network and modify one luggage compartment to a temperature-controlled unit in some mail and express trains based on traffic projections.

The prospective operators would facilitate cold chain movement of perishable cargo like fruits, vegetables, milk products, fish, egg, meat and processed food products by collecting, aggregating, transporting, storing and distributing cargo at origin and destination stations. The agreement will be valid for a period of three years.

Opportunities have also been offered to set up cargo centres on railway land, where available, in lieu of a licence fee. The centres would be developed at the cost and responsibility of the operator.

“Indian Railways operates on almost all major routes and connects all major cities in the country. Besides, the rail transport is faster, safer and cost effective. We hope that the project would be received well by industry players,” the official added.

All logistics and transportations companies, cold chain operators, agri-retail chain operators, freight forwarders, exporters and importers, corporate houses engaged in contract farming, food processing industries, state marketing federations are eligible for applying for the project.

In November 2009, Banerjee had laid the foundation stone for setting up a perishable cargo centre with a capacity to store 1,500 tonnes of produce at Singur in West Bengal. The temperature-controlled unit, which will come up at a cost of Rs 3 crore, would be the country’s first such rail-linked facility. Five other sites have been identified to initiate pilot projects at Dankuni, Mechcheda, New Jalpaiguri, Nasik and New Azadpur.