Lok Sabha Question No. 3913 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-25
Subject: Subsidy for Cold Storage Units in Chhattisgarh
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Smt. Roopkumari Choudhary

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3913 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 25 TH  MARCH, 2025

## SUBSIDY FOR COLD STORAGE UNITS IN CHHATTISGARH

3913. SMT. ROOPKUMARI CHOUDHARY:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE क ृ िष एवं िकसान कʞाण मंũी be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  proposes  any  financial  assistance  or  subsidy  for setting up cold storage in Chhattisgarh;
- (b) if so, the plans available therein;
- (c) whether  any  specific  eligibility  criteria  has  been  set  up  for  subsidy  for  cold storage units including the number of cold storage units set up in Chhattisgarh so far;
- (d) whether  any  regulatory  standards  or  guidelines  have  been  implemented  to monitor the setting up and operation of cold storage units in Chhattisgarh; and
- (e) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  equp  cold  storage  units  with  energy efficiency and modern technologies to reduce post-harvest losses in Chhattisgarh?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE क ृ िष एवं िकसान कʞाण राǛ मंũी (SHRI RAMNATH THAKUR)

(a) to (e): Government  is  implementing  various  schemes  under  which  financial assistance  is  available  for  setting  up  of  cold  storage  for  perishable  horticultural produce throughout the country including Chhattisgarh.

Department  of  Agriculture  &  Farmers  Welfare  is  implementing  Mission  for Integrated  Development  of  Horticulture  (MIDH)  under  which  financial  assistance  is provided for various horticulture activities including Construction/Expansion/ Modernization  of  cold  storages  of  capacity  up  to  5000  MT  in  the  country  including Chhattisgarh  on  the  basis  of  Annual  Action  Plan  (AAP)  received  from  States/UTs. The component of Cold Storage is demand/entrepreneur driven for which Government assistance in the form of credit linked back ended subsidy is available at the rate of 35% of the project cost in general areas and 50% of the project cost in hilly and scheduled areas through respective State Horticulture Missions.

Under the scheme, assistance is available to individuals, Groups of farmers/ growers/  consumers,  Partnership/  Proprietary  firms,  Self  Help  Groups  (SHGs), Farmers  Producer  Organization  (FPOs),  Companies,  Corporations,  Cooperatives,

Cooperative Marketing  Federations, Local bodies, Agricultural  Produce  Market Committees (APMCs) & Marketing Boards and State Governments.

Under MIDH, Cold Storages are being setup/established as per the Technical Standard published by Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW) through National  Centre  for  Cold  Chain  Development  (NCCD)  time  to  time.  NCCD  has recently  published  the  latest  edition  of  the  Engineering  Guidelines  &  Minimum System  Standards for implementation in  Cold-Chain  Component-2025.  These Technical standards aim to ensure seamless end-to-end connectivity from farm gate to  consumers,  with  a  special  emphasis  on  integrating  renewable  energy-based systems to enhance sustainability and reduce post-harvest losses.

Besides, National Horticulture Board (NHB) is implementing a scheme namely 'Capital  Investment  Subsidy  for  Construction/Expansion  /Modernization  of  Cold Storages  and  Storages  for  Horticulture  Products'.  Under  the  scheme,  credit  linked back-ended subsidy at the rate of 35% of the capital cost  of the project in general areas and 50% in case of North East, hilly & scheduled areas for construction/expansion/modernization  of  cold  storage  and  Controlled  Atmosphere (CA) storage of capacity above 5000 MT and up to 20000 MT is available.

Ministry of  Food  Processing  Industries  (MoFPI)  is  also  implementing  a Scheme for Integrated Cold Chain, Food Processing and Preservation Infrastructure as one of the components of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY) with the  objective  of  reducing  post-harvest  losses  of  horticulture  and  non-horticulture produce  and  providing  remunerative  price  to  farmers  for  their  produce.  Under  the scheme, Ministry provides financial assistance in the form of grant-in-aid at the rate of 35%  for  general  areas  and  50%  for  North  East  and  Himalayan  States,  Integrated Tribal Development Programme (ITDP) areas and Islands for storage and transport infrastructure  and  at  the  rate  of  50%  and  75%  respectively  for  value  addition  and processing infrastructure  subject  to  a  maximum  grant-in-aid  of  Rs.  10.00  crore  per project  for  setting  up  of  integrated  cold  chain  projects  including  irradiation  facility. Standalone cold storages are not covered under the Scheme.

All  the  above  schemes  are  demand/entrepreneur driven through  commercial ventures for which government assistance is in the form of credit linked back ended subsidy/grant-in-aid  and  is  provided  based  on  the  proposals  received  from  the States/entrepreneur.

Further,  to  strengthen  agriculture  infrastructure  in  the  country,  Government has  launched  Agriculture  Infrastructure  Funds  (AIF)  of  Rs.  1.00  lakh  crore.  Under AIF, there is  provision for collateral free term loan  upto Rs. 2.00  crore  and interest subvention of 3% on the term loan availed for creation of post-harvest infrastructure including establishment of cold storages.

As per available information, the State-wise distribution of cold storage in the country including Chhattisgarh is at Annexure - I .

## State wise distribution of Cold Storages as on 31.01.2025 in the Country

| S. No.   | Name of the State              |   No. of Project |   Capacity (MT) |
|----------|--------------------------------|------------------|-----------------|
| 1        | Andaman & Nicobar Islands (UT) |                4 |            2210 |
| 2        | Andhra Pradesh & Telangana     |              480 |         1996340 |
| 3        | Arunachal Pradesh              |                2 |            6000 |
| 4        | Assam                          |               43 |          206742 |
| 5        | Bihar                          |              316 |         1490200 |
| 6        | Chandigarh (UT)                |                7 |           12462 |
| 7        | Chhattisgarh                   |              130 |          577663 |
| 8        | Delhi                          |               97 |          129857 |
| 9        | Goa                            |               29 |            7705 |
| 10       | Gujarat                        |             1023 |         4042770 |
| 11       | Haryana                        |              386 |          870703 |
| 12       | Himachal Pradesh               |               89 |          181318 |
| 13       | Jammu & Kashmir                |               92 |          151833 |
| 14       | Jharkhand                      |               59 |          242655 |
| 15       | Karnataka                      |              268 |          912417 |
| 16       | Kerala                         |              202 |           96655 |
| 17       | Lakshadweep (UT)               |                1 |              15 |
| 18       | Madhya Pradesh                 |              320 |         1381827 |
| 19       | Maharashtra                    |              665 |         1219851 |
| 20       | Manipur                        |                2 |            4500 |
| 21       | Meghalaya                      |                4 |            8200 |
| 22       | Mizoram                        |                3 |            4071 |
| 23       | Nagaland                       |                5 |            8150 |
| 24       | Orissa                         |              182 |          579321 |
| 25       | Pondicherry (UT)               |                4 |             185 |
| 26       | Punjab                         |              770 |         2604206 |
| 27       | Rajasthan                      |              190 |          648908 |
| 28       | Sikkim                         |                2 |            2100 |
| 29       | Tamil Nadu                     |              188 |          399690 |
| 30       | Telangana                      |              116 |          617131 |
| 31       | Tripura                        |               14 |           46354 |
| 32       | Uttar Pradesh                  |             2488 |        15096476 |
| 33       | Uttrakhand                     |               62 |          206848 |
| 34       | West Bengal                    |              517 |         5952997 |
|          | Total                          |             8760 |        39708361 |

(Source: Directorate of Marketing and Inspection (DMI) upto 2009, National Horticulture Board (NHB), National  Horticulture  Mission  (NHM),  Horticulture  Mission  for  North  East  &  Himalayan  States (HMNEH)) and MoFPI

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