Lok Sabha Question No. 294 (STARRED), answered on 2026-03-12
Subject: Cold Storage and Refrigerated Transport Facilities
Ministry: FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES
Asked by: Thiru Arun Nehru

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.*294

ANSWERED ON 12 TH  MARCH, 2026

## COLD STORAGE AND REFRIGERATED TRANSPORT FACILITIES

## *294. THIRU ARUN NEHRU:

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

- (a) Whether the acute absence of adequate cold storage and refrigerated transport facilities has resulted in wastage of Perambalur's onions, maize and other perishables valued at several crores annually, leading to distress sale by small and marginal farmers and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the specific reasons for inordinate delays in approval and funding of cold chain projects and Production  Linked  Incentive  (PLI)  scheme  applications  submitted  by  Perambalur-based entrepreneurs and Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) despite meeting eligibility criteria;
- (c) the  status  of  all  cold  chain  proposals  pending  clearance  including  timelines  for  technoeconomic clearance, Detailed Project  Report  (DPR) approval  and  funds  release,  projectwise; and
- (d) the  details  of  the  concrete  funding  commitment,  nodal  agency  responsibilities  and  firm commissioning timeline to halt Perambalur's post-harvest losses and secure remunerative prices for farmers?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES (SHRI CHIRAG PASWAN)

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

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## STATEMENT REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF  LOK  SABHA STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  *294  ANSWERED  ON  12.03.2026  REGARDING  'COLD STORAGE AND REFRIGERATED TRANSPORT FACILITIES'

(a): The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) estimates post-harvest losses from time to time for various agri-produces in the country through commissioning of studies based on primary surveys. Two studies were commissioned by the Ministry through (i) Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) -Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering & Technology (CIPHET), 2015 with reference year 2012-14 and (ii) NABARD Consultancy Service Pvt. Ltd (NABCONS), 2022 with reference year 2020-22. As per the last study conducted by NABCONS, crop-wise estimates of overall post-harvest losses in the state of Tamil Nadu is as below:

| Tamil Nadu   | Tamil Nadu             |
|--------------|------------------------|
| Product      | Overall Total Loss (%) |
| Banana       | 7.47                   |
| Beans        | 7.82                   |
| Black gram   | 5.93                   |
| Egg          | 6.6                    |
| Groundnut    | 5.31                   |
| Maize        | 4.39                   |
| Marine fish  | 9.14                   |
| Meat         | 3.04                   |
| Mushroom     | 11.03                  |
| Paddy        | 5.98                   |
| Poultry Meat | 6.08                   |
| Sorghum      | 6.29                   |
| Sugarcane    | 8.65                   |

In order to address the gap in cold chain infrastructure and reduce post-harvest losses, the Government of India is implementing several schemes. The Ministry of Food Processing Industries is implementing  the  Central  Sector  umbrella  scheme  -  Pradhan  Mantri  Kisan  SAMPADA  Yojana (PMKSY) across the country. Under its 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)  -  Long  Term  Intervention,  financial assistance is provided for development of integrated food processing infrastructure which may include cold  storage  facilities  and  refrigerated  transport  (reefer  vehicles/insulated  vans)  as  components  of approved projects.

As on 31.12.2025, under PMKSY, 690 cold storage facilities with preservation capacity of about 51.85 lakh MT per annum have been created and 1,768 reefer vehicles have been supported under 422 completed food processing projects.

The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare supports development of post-harvest and cold storage infrastructure through schemes such as the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) and the Capital Investment Subsidy for Construction Expansion Modernization of  Cold  Storages  and  Controlled  Atmosphere  Storages  implemented  by  the  National  Horticulture Board. These initiatives provide financial assistance for creation and modernization of post-harvest infrastructure including pack houses, cold storages, ripening chambers, reefer transport, and controlled atmosphere (CA) storage facilities. As on 31.01.2025, 8760 cold storage facilities with capacity of 397.08  LMT  have  been  created  across  the  country.  The  details  of  the  same  is  provided  at Annexure.

(b):    As  on  date,  no  application  from  entrepreneurs or  Farmer Producer  Organizations (FPOs) based in Perambalur district of Tamil Nadu is pending for approval under the Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Food Processing Industries (PLISFPI) or under the Cold Chain component scheme  of  Pradhan  Mantri  Kisan  SAMPADA  Yojana  (PMKSY)  in  the  Ministry  of  Food Processing Industries.

(c):  An  expression  of  interest  (EoI)  was  issued  by  this  Ministry  under  Cold  Chain  scheme  on 27.05.2025 for inviting applications/ proposals from the eligible entities from across the country. A total of 60 cold chain proposals were received till last date i.e. 08.08.2025 against the aforesaid EoI. The proposals received are under evaluation as per the extant Cold Chain scheme guidelines dated 22.05.2025.

(d): The Ministry of Food Processing Industries does not set up food processing projects on its own; rather, it facilitates and supports their establishment by providing financial assistance to eligible entities, under its schemes. The component schemes of PMKSY are demand driven and proposals are invited by floating EoIs from time to time based on the availability of funds under the respective component schemes. Further, no State-wise / district-wise allocation of funds is made under these component schemes. Any eligible entity including farmers from across the country including Perambalur district of Tamil Nadu may avail the financial assistance in the form of grants-in-aid / subsidy 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/ Agro Processing Clusters (APC) scheme and ₹ 10.00 crore in case of standalone projects and ₹ 15.00 crore in case of integrated projects under Operation Greens (OG) scheme for setting up of food processing projects along with cold storage infrastructure and refrigerated transport facilities.

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## ANNEXURE REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION  NO.  *294  ANSWERED  ON  12.03.2026  REGARDING  'COLD  STORAGE AND REFRIGERATED TRANSPORT FACILITIES'

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

| Sr. No.   | State/UT                  |   No. of project |   Cold Storage created (Capacity in MT) |
|-----------|---------------------------|------------------|-----------------------------------------|
| 1         | Andaman &Nicobar (UT)     |                4 |                                    2210 |
| 2         | Andhra Pradesh &Telangana |              480 |                                 1996340 |
| 3         | 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 |
| 31        | Uttar Pradesh             |             2488 |                                15096476 |
| 32        | Uttarakhand               |               62 |                                  206848 |
| 33        | West Bengal               |              517 |                                 5952997 |
|           | 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).