Question : Cold Chain Storages

(a) the percentage of agricultural/horticultural produce being stored and preserved in cold storages in each of the States/Union Territory in the country;

(b) whether there is a shortage of cold storages in the country and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;

(c) whether the Government has made any assessment of the requirement of cold chains/storages by the end of 2015 and if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether the Government proposes to establish more cold chains/storages under the public-private partnership module in the near future and if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise; and

(e) the details of the skill development programme being run by the Government in food processing sector in the country?

THE MINISTER OF FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES
(SMT. HARSIMRAT KAUR BADAL)

(a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.



STATEMENT REFERRED IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) to (e) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *18 FOR ANSWER ON 21ST JULY, 2015 REGARDING COLD CHAIN STORAGES.

(a) Data regarding percentage of agricultural/horticultural produce being stored and preserved in cold storages in each of the States/Union Territory in the country is not maintained by the Ministry. However, the availability of number of cold storages in each State/UT and capacity created as on 31-3-2015 is placed at Annexure-I.

(b) Dr. Saumitra Chaudhuri Committee constituted by the Planning Commission in 2012 has indicated cold storage requirement of 61 million metric tonnes. The present capacity of cold storage is estimated at around 32 million metric tonnes in the country. Thus, the present gap is around 29 million metric tonnes. Creation of cold storage/cold chain infrastructure is a capital intensive activity. Therefore, enough investment has not taken place in this sector.

(c) To assess the current status of gap in Cold-chain infrastructure, a fresh study is being conducted by the National Centre for Cold-chain Development (NCCD) through NABARD Consultancy Services (NABCONS). The outcome of the study will be available shortly.

(d) Under the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) Scheme of the Ministry of Finance, setting up of cold chain infrastructure is allowed under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. However, till date no proposal to set up the Cold chain project under the PPP mode has been sanctioned .

(e) The Ministry of Food Processing Industries does not operate any specific scheme for skill development. However, the Ministry has two academic-cum-research Institutions viz. National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM) at Kundli, Sonepat, Haryana and the Indian Institute of Crop Processing Technology (IICPT) at Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, which offer academic programmes at Bachelors, Masters and Ph.D. in food processing. These institutes are also conducting short-term training in food processing.
This Ministry was also implementing Human Resource Development (HRD) as one of the components under the centrally sponsored scheme of National Mission on Food Processing (NMFP) during the 12th Plan. Government has decided to de-link NMFP from the Central Government support with effect from 01.04.2015. Therefore, HRD scheme has also been de-linked from the Government of India support.
Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has recently launched the scheme of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) to provide outcome based skill training in various sectors including food processing.
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