Lok Sabha Question No. 1947 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-11
Subject: Comprehensive Plan to establish New Cold Storages
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Shri Ram Shiromani Verma

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1947

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 11 TH  MARCH, 2025

## COMPREHENSIVE PLAN TO ESTABLISH NEW COLD STORAGES

†1947. SHRI RAM SHIROMANI VERMA :

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

- (a) whether the  present  number  of  cold  storages  functional  across  the  country are sufficient to meet the demands of farmers and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether there is still a huge shortage of the cold storages in the country, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  formulate  a  comprehensive  plan  to establish  more/new  cold  storages  across  the  country  including  Uttar  Pradesh  to meet the increasing demand; and
- (d) if so, the steps taken/being taken by the Government for the said purpose in various States of the country including Uttar Pradesh?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (d): A study was conducted by NABARD Consultancy Services (NABCONS) in  2015  on  'All  India  Cold-chain  Infrastructure  Capacity  (AICIC-2015)'.  The  study assessed  the  required  capacity  of  cold  storages  at  that  time  as  351.00  lakh  MT against  the  existing  capacity  of  318.23  lakh  MT  in  2014  including  Uttar  Pradesh. The study also assessed the cold storage requirement upto the year 2019-20, which is 519.53 lakh MT. As per available information, there are 8760 cold storages in the country  including  Uttar  Pradesh  with  the  capacity  of  397.08  lakh  MT  as  on 30 th January, 2025. The State-wise details including Uttar Pradesh are at Annexure-I .

Government is implementing various schemes under which financial assistance is available for setting up of cold storage for perishable horticultural  produce throughout the country.

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 Uttar Pradesh on the basis of Annual Action Plan (AAP) received from States/UTs. AAPs  are  prepared  by  the  States/UTs  based  on  their  requirement,  capacity  and availability  of  resources.  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.

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)  implements  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.

Annexure - I State wise distribution of Cold Storages as on 30.01.2025 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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