Lok Sabha Question No. 267 (STARRED), answered on 2025-12-18
Subject: Facilities for Perishable Goods
Ministry: FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES
Asked by: Shri P V Midhun Reddy, Shri Ramasahayam Raghuram Reddy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *267

ANSWERED ON 18 TH  DECEMBER, 2025

## FACILITIES FOR PERISHABLE GOODS

## *267. SHRI RAMASAHAYAM RAGHURAM REDDY: SHRI P V MIDHUN REDDY:

Will the Minister of Food Processing Industries be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has any specific plans to address the lack of cold storage and transportation facilities, especially for perishable goods and if so, the expected timelines for these improvements;
- (b) whether the Ministry is collaborating/ proposes to collaborate with other Ministries such as  Ministry  of  Road  Transport  and  Highways  and  Ministry  of  Railways  to  enhance logistical infrastructure for timely transportation of agricultural products and if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the  extent  to  which  post-harvest  losses  have  impacted  farmers'  income  due  to infrastructure deficits and the steps being taken to reduce/ mitigate such losses?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES (SHRI CHIRAG PASWAN)

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

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## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF LOK SABHA STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  *267  FOR  ANSWER  ON  18.12.2025  REGARDING 'FACILITIES FOR PERISHABLE GOODS'

(a) & (b):  The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) is implementing a Central Sector umbrella scheme - Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY) to support setting up of food processing projects across the country. Under the component schemes namely (i) Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure (Cold Chain scheme), (ii) Creation of Infrastructure  for  Agro  Processing  Clusters  (APC  scheme)  and  (iii)  Operation  Greens  (OG scheme)-  Long  term  intervention  of  PMKSY,  cold  storage  and  transport  facilities  (reefer vehicles/  insulated  vans)  are  supported  as  constituents  in  the  integrated  food  processing projects.  However, these component schemes do not support setting up of standalone cold storage and transport facilities. All the component schemes of PMKSY are demand driven and financial assistance in the form of grants-in-aid/ subsidy is provided for setting up of food processing projects at the rate of 35% of the eligible project cost in case of projects from general areas and 50% in case of projects from difficult areas as well as projects for SC/ ST, FPOs and SHGs subject to a maximum of ₹10.00 crore in case of Cold Chain scheme/ APC scheme as well as in case of standalone projects under OG Scheme and ₹15.00 crore in case of integrated projects under OG scheme.

Department  of  Agriculture  &  Farmers  Welfare  (DA&FW)  is  implementing  Mission  for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) for holistic development of horticulture sector in  the  country.  Under  MIDH,  financial  assistance  is  provided  for  various  post-harvest management infrastructure including setting up of Pack Houses, Integrated Pack Houses, cold storage, reefer transport, ripening chamber etc. on the basis of Annual Action Plans (AAP) received from States/UTs. AAPs are prepared by the States/UTs based on their requirement, capacity  and  availability  of  resources.  This  scheme  is  demand/  entrepreneur  driven  and financial assistance in the form of credit linked back ended subsidy is provided at the rate of 35% of the project cost in general areas and 50% of the project cost in case of North East & Himalayan  States,  TSP  and  Scheduled  areas,  vibrant  villages,  Andaman  &  Nicobar  and Lakshadweep Islands through respective State Horticulture Mission(s) (SHMs).

Besides,  National  Horticulture  Board  (NHB)  under  DA&FW  is  implementing  a  scheme namely,  Capital  Investment  Subsidy  for  Construction/  Expansion/  Modernization  of  Cold Storages and Storage of Horticulture Products. Under this 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 10000 MT is available. In case of North Eastern Region, the units with capacity above 1000 MT are also eligible for financial assistance.

Further,  to  strengthen  agriculture  infrastructure  in  the  country,  DA&FW  has  launched Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) of ₹1.00 lakh crore. Under AIF, there is provision for collateral free term loans up to ₹ 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 on 31.01.2025, as per the data provided by DA&FW, 8760 number of cold storages have been created with total capacity of 397.08 LMT across the country. Details of the same are attached at Annexure-I. The Inter -Ministerial Consultations (IMCs) are made as and when required  by this Ministry  to develop  strategies  to enhance  logistical  infrastructure  for timely transportation of farm produce/ processed foods. Further, MoFPI under the component schemes, namely  Cold  Chain  scheme  and  OG  scheme  of  PMKSY  provides  support  to  logistical infrastructure (reefer vehicles/ insulated vans) as a constituent in the integrated food processing projects for facilitating transport of farm produce/ processed foods. Till date, under PMKSY, 1561 number of reefer vehicles / insulated vans have been supported.

(c): The MoFPI has conducted two studies namely (i) 'Assessment of Quantitative Harvest and Post-Harvest Losses of Major Crops and Commodities in India', 2015 with reference year 2012-14 through Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) -Central Institute of PostHarvest  Engineering  &  Technology  (CIPHET),  Ludhiana  and  (ii)  Study  to  determine  Post harvest losses of Agri Produce in India in 2022 with reference year 2020-22 through NABARD Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd. (NABCONS) for estimating harvest and post-harvest losses from time to time for various agri-produces in the country. The details of estimated loss of various  agri-produces  reported  in  these  studies  are  provided  at Annexure-II. One  of  the reasons for these post-harvest losses of agri produces as brought out in these studies has been due to lack of infrastructure facilities. For addressing these infrastructure shortfall, MoFPI has been implementing three schemes namely, (i) Central Sector umbrella scheme- Pradhan Mantri Kisan  Sampada  Yojana  (PMKSY),  (ii)  Centrally  Sponsored  scheme-  PM  Formalization  of Micro Food Processing  Enterprises (PMFME) and (iii) Central Sector scheme- Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Food Processing Industries (PLISFPI).

As on 31.10.2025,  under  PMKSY,  1619  projects  have  been  approved.  Out  of  these,  1181 projects  have  been  completed  and  operationalized  thereby  creating  total  processing  and preservation capacity of 269.61 lakh MT/ annum, generating 4,53,829 number of employment and  benefitting  35,77,805  farmers.  Under  PMFME  scheme,  1,62,744  loans  have  been sanctioned with term loan amount of approximately ₹13,230 crore for setting up of micro food processing enterprises. Further, seed capital support of ₹1244.95 crore has been sanctioned for 3,65,935 women Self Help Group (SHG) members. Under PLISFPI scheme, 170 applications have been approved with beneficiaries reporting investment of ₹9,032 crore and receiving incentive of ₹2162.55 crore thereby creating a processing and preservation capacity of 35.14 lakh MT / annum and generating 3,40,000 number of employment against the target of 2,50,000 by 2026-27. Further, due to various interventions, a decline in post-harvest losses for the period from 2015 to 2021 was observed in 42 commodities against the 45 commodities taken for the study which led to savings of ₹ 20,440.58 crore/ annum since 2021 onwards.

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## ANNEXURE-I  REFERRED  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)&(b)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  *267  FOR  ANSWER  ON  18.12.2025  REGARDING 'FACILITIES FOR PERISHABLE GOODS'

## State-wise Cold Storage facilities created as on 31.01.2025 in the country

| S. No.   | State/UT                    |   No. of project | Cold Storage created (Capacity in MT) [as reported by Department of Agriculture&   |
|----------|-----------------------------|------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1        | Andaman &Nicobar            |                4 | Farmers Welfare during 2025] 2210                                                  |
| 2        | Andhra Pradesh&             |              480 | 1996340                                                                            |
| 3        | Telangana Arunachal Pradesh |                2 | 6000                                                                               |
| 4        | Assam                       |               43 | 206742                                                                             |
| 5        | Bihar                       |              316 | 1490200                                                                            |
| 6        | Chandigarh                  |                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                 |                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       | Odisha                      |              182 | 579321                                                                             |
| 25       | Puducherry                  |                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       | Uttarakhand                 |               62 | 206848                                                                             |
| 34       | West Bengal                 |              517 | 5952997                                                                            |
| Total    | Total                       |             8760 | 39708360                                                                           |

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

## ANNEXURE-II  REFERRED  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (c)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  *267  FOR  ANSWER  ON  18.12.2025  REGARDING 'FACILITIES FOR PERISHABLE GOODS'

## Details of estimated post-harvest losses of major crops and commodities

| Crops/ Commodities       | Estimated Loss (%)               | Estimated Loss (%)            |
|--------------------------|----------------------------------|-------------------------------|
| Crops/ Commodities       | As per ICAR-CIPHET Study (2015)* | As per NABCONS study (2022)** |
| Cereals                  | 4.65 - 5.99                      | 3.89-5.92                     |
| Pulses                   | 6.36 - 8.41                      | 5.65-6.74                     |
| Oil Seeds                | 3.08 - 9.96                      | 2.87-7.51                     |
| Fruits                   | 6.70-15.88                       | 6.02-15.05                    |
| Vegetables               | 4.58-12.44                       | 4.87-11.61                    |
| Plantation Crops& Spices | 1.18-7.89                        | 1.29-7.33                     |
| Milk                     | 0.92                             | 0.87                          |
| Fisheries (Inland)       | 5.23                             | 4.86                          |
| Fisheries (Marine)       | 10.52                            | 8.76                          |
| Meat                     | 2.71                             | 2.34                          |
| Poultry                  | 6.74                             | 5.63                          |
| Egg                      | 7.19                             | 6.03                          |

Source: *Report on Assessment of Quantitative Harvest and Post-Harvest Losses of Major Crops and commodities in India, 2015. **NABCONS Study 2022

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