ShareCold chain in India: current status
New Indian legislation allowing a majority foreign direct investment in the retail sector may well bring in large investments in cold chain equipment.
New Indian legislation allowing a majority foreign direct investment in the retail sector may well bring in large investments in cold chain equipment. Foreign companies such as German Metro or USA’s Walmart have already set up bulk stores but are not yet allowed to sell to end consumers. Some large Indian companies have already started small-scale supermarkets with extensive refrigeration facilities in a few large cities. Even though the idea of a national cold chain is still utopian, cold links have been established from farms to the main consumption centres in large cities. Fruit from foreign countries are also available in some large Indian cities.
New dairies are springing up, with average daily processing capacities of 1 million litres and 2100-2800 kW refrigeration capacity. A National Dairy Plan envisages a future annual production capacity of 180 million tons by 2021, but India’s current production of 107 million tons per annum, ranks it as the world’s largest milk and dairy products producer. The main remaining challenge is still to chill the milk down to 4°C within 4 hours of milking.
The meat industry has demonstrated big growth in the last decade and private companies now export over USD 1.2 billion worth of raw meat in chilled and frozen form. Blast and plate freezers are commonly used in the meat industry.
India’s 8000 km coastline gives it access to an abundant supply of seafood. While the local domestic market is huge and chaotic, the export market has been developing since the early 1960s, now reaching USD 2.6 billion. More recently, data from the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries (DADF) showed that exports figures for marine products were up by 20% in 2011-12. This was mainly due to a shift in demand since the Fukushima nuclear crisis and has been enhanced by the falling value of the Indian rupee. Plate-freezer and blast-freezer processing units, flooded ammonia screw compressors and multiple split air-cooled units with R404A, while multimodal reefers are commonly used for transport.
India is the second largest producer of fruit and vegetables in the world, however, 30% of the production is damaged before it reaches the market due to inadequate pre-cooling and storage facilities. However, there is an export market for high-value fruit such as grapes, pomegrenates and mangoes, mostly transported by air.
Around 6000 refrigerated trucks circulated around the country in 2011, a figure that is currently growing by 1000-1500 annually. Small trucks, recently introduced by Thermo King and Carrier and that can deliver produce on the “last mile” distribution network to crowded bazaars in large cities prove to be very popular. The Thermo King version uses a B-100 unit with a cooling capacity of 1050W at 0°C that works on DC supply from the alternator driven by the vehicle’s engine.
JARN, May 25, 2012
New dairies are springing up, with average daily processing capacities of 1 million litres and 2100-2800 kW refrigeration capacity. A National Dairy Plan envisages a future annual production capacity of 180 million tons by 2021, but India’s current production of 107 million tons per annum, ranks it as the world’s largest milk and dairy products producer. The main remaining challenge is still to chill the milk down to 4°C within 4 hours of milking.
The meat industry has demonstrated big growth in the last decade and private companies now export over USD 1.2 billion worth of raw meat in chilled and frozen form. Blast and plate freezers are commonly used in the meat industry.
India’s 8000 km coastline gives it access to an abundant supply of seafood. While the local domestic market is huge and chaotic, the export market has been developing since the early 1960s, now reaching USD 2.6 billion. More recently, data from the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries (DADF) showed that exports figures for marine products were up by 20% in 2011-12. This was mainly due to a shift in demand since the Fukushima nuclear crisis and has been enhanced by the falling value of the Indian rupee. Plate-freezer and blast-freezer processing units, flooded ammonia screw compressors and multiple split air-cooled units with R404A, while multimodal reefers are commonly used for transport.
India is the second largest producer of fruit and vegetables in the world, however, 30% of the production is damaged before it reaches the market due to inadequate pre-cooling and storage facilities. However, there is an export market for high-value fruit such as grapes, pomegrenates and mangoes, mostly transported by air.
Around 6000 refrigerated trucks circulated around the country in 2011, a figure that is currently growing by 1000-1500 annually. Small trucks, recently introduced by Thermo King and Carrier and that can deliver produce on the “last mile” distribution network to crowded bazaars in large cities prove to be very popular. The Thermo King version uses a B-100 unit with a cooling capacity of 1050W at 0°C that works on DC supply from the alternator driven by the vehicle’s engine.
JARN, May 25, 2012