Lok Sabha Question No. 4876 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-04-01
Subject: Cold Storage Facilities for Red Chilli
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Shri Kunduru Raghuveer

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4876

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 01 ST  APRIL, 2025

## COLD STORAGE FACILITIES FOR RED CHILLI

## 4876. SHRI KUNDURU RAGHUVEER:

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

- (a) whether the Government is aware that red chilli prices typically fall during peak harvesting season due to market saturation, only to rise significantly later; (b)  whether  the  Government  has  assessed  the  necessity  of  establishing  additional  cold storage facilities  in  major red chilli-growing areas to help farmers store their produce and avoid distress sales; (c) the current availability of cold storage facilities in red chilli-producing States, particularly in the State of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and other major chilli-growing regions; (d) the comparison of red chilli market prices during peak harvesting and post-harvesting periods in different States over the last three years; and (e) the steps the Government is taking to encourage the construction of more cold storage units, and whether any subsidy or financial assistance schemes are available for farmers or
- entrepreneurs for this purpose?

## ANSWER

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

- (a): The prices of red chilli are generally influenced by overall demand & supply and trend to fall in peak harvesting season in major producing states.
- (b): A study was conducted by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) Consultancy Services (NABCONS) in 2015 on 'All India Cold Chain Infrastructure Capacity  (AICIC-2015)'.  The  study  assessed  the  required  capacity  of  cold  storages  for perishables  including  chilli  at  that  time  was  351.00  lakh  metric  tonnes  (MT)  against  the existing capacity of 318.23 lakh MT in 2014 in the country. The study also assessed the cold storage requirement upto the year 2019-20, which has 519.53 lakh MT in the country. As per available information, there are 8760 cold storages in the country with the capacity of 397.08 lakh MT as on 31 st  January, 2025.
- (c) & (d): The  state  wise  distribution  of  cold  storage  sanctioned  under  Mission  for Integrated Development  of  Horticulture  (MIDH)  scheme  in  the country is given at Annexure-I .

The market prices of red (dry) chillies during peak harvesting and post harvesting periods in major producing states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka & Telangana are given at Annexure - II .

(e): The Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) is implementing MIDH scheme  under  which  financial  assistance  is  provided  for  various  horticulture  activities including construction/ expansion/ modernization of cold storages of capacity up to 5000 MT to reduce the post-harvest losses and storage of perishable horticultural produce including chilli in the country covering Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka. 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.

Besides,  National  Horticulture  Board  (NHB)  is  also  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.

Further, Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI)' sub-scheme of Integrated Scheme for Agricultural Marketing (ISAM) is implemented through the Directorate of Marketing & Inspection (DMI) for creation of Agricultural Marketing infrastructure including cold storages.

State wise distribution of cold storage under MIDH scheme as on 31.01.2025

| S. No.   | Name of State     |   No. of Project |   Capacity (MT) |
|----------|-------------------|------------------|-----------------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh    |              254 |         1471833 |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh |                1 |            3983 |
| 3        | Assam             |               37 |          203734 |
| 4        | Bihar             |              174 |          734438 |
| 5        | Chandigarh        |                1 |             246 |
| 6        | Chhattisgarh      |               89 |          374458 |
| 7        | Delhi             |                9 |           20655 |
| 8        | Goa               |                1 |            3633 |
| 9        | Gujarat           |              850 |         3120386 |
| 10       | Haryana           |              171 |          549792 |
| 11       | Himachal Pradesh  |               61 |          126608 |
| 12       | Jammu & Kashmir   |               67 |          309412 |
| 13       | Jharkhand         |               43 |          198735 |
| 14       | Karnataka         |              159 |          800009 |
| 15       | Kerala            |                6 |           16044 |
| 16       | Madhya Pradesh    |              186 |          762773 |
| 17       | Maharashtra       |              330 |          803946 |
| 18       | Manipur           |                1 |            1600 |
| 19       | Meghalaya         |                1 |            5000 |
| 20       | Mizoram           |                1 |            3471 |
| 21       | Nagaland          |                1 |            5000 |
| 22       | Odisha            |               95 |          369319 |
| 23       | Punjab            |              449 |         1535305 |
| 24       | Rajasthan         |              125 |          505136 |
| 25       | Sikkim            |                1 |             100 |
| 26       | Tamil Nadu        |               74 |          280972 |
| 27       | Telangana         |              105 |          605131 |
| 28       | Tripura           |                5 |           24904 |
| 29       | Uttar Pradesh     |             1847 |        10107253 |
| 30       | Uttarakhand       |               21 |           43368 |
| 31       | West Bengal       |              151 |          614051 |
|          | Total             |             5316 |        23601296 |

Source: MIDH Section, DA&FW

Mandi prices of dry (red) chillies in major producing states during peak harvest & post harvest period since last 3 yrs.

In (Rs/Quintal)

|                | 2022-23                                                                 | 2022-23                                                              | 2023-24                                                                 | 2023-24                                                              | 2024-25                                                                 | 2024-25                                                              |
|----------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| State          | Mandi Wt. Avg Price during Peak Harvest Season (October 22 to March 23) | Mandi Wt. Avg Price during Post Harvest Season (April 22 to Sept 22) | Mandi Wt. Avg Price during Peak Harvest Season (October 23 to March 24) | Mandi Wt. Avg Price during Post Harvest Season (April 23 to Sept 23) | Mandi Wt. Avg Price during Peak Harvest Season (October 24 to March 25) | Mandi Wt. Avg Price during Post Harvest Season (April 24 to Sept 24) |
| Andhra Pradesh | 17,751                                                                  | 16,646                                                               | 16,425                                                                  | 18,655                                                               | 11,997                                                                  | 13,831                                                               |
| Karnataka      | 25,482                                                                  | 15,630                                                               | 25,933                                                                  | 27,004                                                               | 19,142                                                                  | 18,754                                                               |
| Telangana      | 19,934                                                                  | 14,393                                                               | 18,389                                                                  | 20,147                                                               | 9,224                                                                   | 12,836                                                               |

Note: Dried red chillies are reported on the Agmarknet portal as dry chillies by the APMCs concerned under the respective state authorities. Source: Agmarknet

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