Domestic cold chain biz struggles to keep up volumes to recover investment

Compared to similar geographies, like Thailand, Malaysia and China, Indian players make just about 1-2 per cent PAT as against 10-15 per cent PAT in these countries

The need for sizeable investment coupled with a well-defined strategy to capture volumes has made cold chain business a tough one despite the market thrown open by the Coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccination drive.

Industry officials are of the view that pharma cold chain alone could grow by about 20 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR), while the non-pharma segment by 15 per cent CAGR for the next few years. The cold chain industry in India, however, is fragmented and has only a few organized players catering to both pharma and non-pharma segments such as confectionaries, fruits and vegetables among others.