NEW DELHI, 03 November 2016 : A scheme for crop specific infrastructure creation is to be introduced shortly, Mrs Harsimrat Kaur Badal, India minister of food processing industries (MoFPI) at the 6th Cold Chain Summit organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Ministry of Agriculture and National Center for Cold Chain Development (NCCD).

The minister said that the scheme would enable farmers to become entrepreneurs and start their own food processing or cold chain transportation ventures.

Cold chain development would contribute to the target of doubling farmers’ incomes, reduce waste, and strengthen the agri supply chains.

Badal added that with foreign direct investment (FDI) in place, farm produce could be directly linked with retail outlets and suggested creation of FPOs (Farmer Producer Organisation) for crop specific clusters for top agri and #horticultural produce in the states. The Minister asked CII to create a task force to link these FPOs to Industry.

S K Pattanayak, secretary, Indian ministry of agriculture, urged more investments in the #agriculture sector and highlighted the necessity for cold chains.

Central government has several schemes for post harvest management and development, including cold chains, Pattanayak said.

Outlining the impact of Goods & Services Tax (GST) regime on food sector and associated cold chain infrastructure, J P Meena, Additional Secretary, MoFPI urged industry to adapt to the impending changing regime to maximize efficiencies.

T Nanda Kumar, Former Chairman National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), Chairman-CII Jury Cold Chain Awards, called for right infrastructure support to the food processing industry. The industry needs better quality raw material both in terms of intrinsic quality and in terms of food safety.

He also urged for the need of business models which are purely not price arbitrage, but will give larger benefits to #farmers and which will reduce wastage and increase turnover.

Pawanexh Kohli, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Advisor, National Centre for Cold Chain Development, stated the need to increase farmer’s opportunity to sell more, and linking them to more markets.

CII has been working on building a strong service portfolio in cold chain and will continue to engage in training and capacity building activities, promote partnerships to strengthen the cold chain infrastructure in the country, and develop post- harvest management protocols as avenues for strengthening crop - specific cold chain infrastructure, Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry said.

First edition of CII Cold Chain Awards in partnership with NCCD announced

In the category of Outstanding Performance Best Practices in Cold Chain the winners are Rewali Unit, Adani Agrifresh Ltd. (Large Category), Savla Foods & Cold Storage Pvt Ltd. (Medium Category).

Significant Achievement Best Practices in Cold Chain Management goes to Barasat Unit, Keventer Agro Limited.

Outstanding Performance Refrigeration Transport (Large Category) to Coldrush Logistics Pvt Ltd.

Outstanding Performance Refrigeration Transport (Medium Category) to Rivigo Services Private Limited.

Significant Achievement Emerging Entrepreneur to Brring Integrated Logistics Pvt Ltd.

The Cold Chain Award has been initiated by CII in partnership with National Center on Cold Chain Development. It recognizes organizations for outstanding contributions in the field of cold chain management including warehouse, logistics, and policy systems and raises awareness with regard to sustainable success and competitiveness through best practices.

The jury for the CII Cold Chain Awards was headed by Mr. T. Nanda Kumar, Former Chairman, National Dairy Development Board.