Cold stores in India

According to a report published in October 2013, Indian cold stores account for about 16% of the total warehousing industry. Estimated worth: USD 1500 billion.
According to a report published in October 2013, Indian cold stores account for about 16% of the total warehousing industry. Estimated worth is around USD 1500 billion. The cold storage industry is expected to grow at about 15% per annum on a sustained basis over the next 5 years, with the organized market growing at a faster pace of about 20%. In addition to cold storage, trucking and value-added services are being provided by cold-store players. The Indian cold-chain market is highly fragmented among more than 3,500 companies in the whole value system. Organized players contribute to only about 8%–10% of the cold-chain industry market. Snowman Logistics, RK Foodland and Gati Kausar are the largest players in the cold-chain industry.

The share of the organized market in retail, which is at 10% in fiscal year 2013, is expected to grow to by 30%, with food being the least penetrated segment and poised for high growth. Similarly, the Indian food-processing Industry, which is at a nascent stage, is expected to grow at more than 17%. With most of the processed categories requiring cold chain services, demand is expected to increase at a higher rate. Besides, the Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) segment is expected to witness a 30% growth over the next 3 years on account of changing consumption habits and increasing presence of QSRs and restaurants in India. This will create huge demand for the storage of  perishable food items. Growing GDP, increasing population and improving per-capita consumption of food items are other enablers for higher cold-store space demand.

The Government is emphasizing on food parks and integrated cold-chain development through public/private partnerships. In line with this, it has proposed financial outplay for cold-chain infrastructure and food parks of around USD 300 million and USD 500 million, respectively. Under the scheme, the Government is providing over 50%-70% capital grant on cold-store projects.

Source :  The Indian Warehousing industry: an overview, October 2013