Cold Chains

The National Centre for Cold-Chain Development (NCCD) is revising technical standards and minimum guidelines for cold-chain components which will serve as a road-map for all Central and state government bodies setting up cold chain facilities nationwide, its CEO Asheesh Fotedar said on Wednesday. He was referring to initiatives undertaken by the NCCD, which comes under the administrative control of the Ministry of Agriculture. In addition to the guidelines, NCCD is developing a mobile application to digitise data related to cold chain components. This is expected to increase capacity utilisation, reduce fuel costs, and minimise the carbon footprint. The application will also capture relevant logistic data for policymaking and analytics, Fotedar said at a Ficci conference. Surendra Ahirwar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), asserted that the cold chain sector in India, a vital component of the logistic

He discussed NCCD's role in advancing the cold chain sector with a focus on energy, technology, and climate, which would open up investment opportunities in Jammu and Kashmir

Analysts see the logistics sector as a big beneficiary of the 're-opening of the economy' theme, with pent-up demand expected to drive growth

India's cold chain sector is expected to grow at over 20 per cent CAGR by 2025, according to JLL, due to its transformation from conventional cold storage to modern storage space.

MoU includes erecting mfg units in both Mundra SEZ and domestic tariff area, providing logistics for Covid-19 transportation and creating 'Pharma Excellence Centres' at Adani airports across India

In all, 29,000 cold chain points, 240 walk-in coolers, 70 walk-in freezers, 45,000 ice-lined refrigerators, 41,000 deep freezers and 300 solar refrigerators are to be used

Growth next year comes on the back of robust 16% estimated annual growth over past five years with volume growth in the period pegged at 4.4%

Depending upon availability all three priority groups selected for vaccination could get vaccinated simultaneously

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reiterated the United Nations agency's call for an equitable distribution of vaccine doses once they are available

While the country already has a huge cold chain set-up, it may not be enough for vaccine delivery

The expert committee on vaccine administration has initiated talks on cold chain logistics and models that may be required to be adopted

Food Processing Industries Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal Tuesday said that under the scheme for integrated cold chain and value addition infrastructure, 292 projects have been approved so far.

ITC's ICMLs comprise state-of-the-art food processing plants and are being established at strategic locations close to markets