Government initiatives such as PM Gati Shakti-National Master Plan (PMGS-NMP) and national logistics policy are likely to accelerate the growth of the cold chain market in India, helping the market to grow to Rs 5 lakh crore by 2032 from Rs 2 lakh crore in 2023, Surendra Ahirwar, joint secretary, Department of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) said, citing estimates.
At the FICCI-Cold Chain and Logistics Summit on Wednesday, Ahirwar said that the gaps in physical infrastructure such as bad roads and inefficient ports are dampening the growth of the logistics sector, and these schemes are addressing those gaps.
“The push for infrastructure development, especially the physical infrastructure, under these schemes, will drive the growth of the logistics sector, including temperature control warehousing and make the cold chain sector more efficient,” he said.
Further, granting infrastructure status to warehousing facilities and cold chains has ensured the flow of credit to the logistics sector, including the cold chain infrastructure.
Ahirwar said that ice batteries have ensured uninterrupted temperature control even with interrupted power supply and in the most efficient way possible. Cube packaging is another innovation that has helped preserve products for longer periods.
The government has also rolled out digital initiatives such as the Unified Logistics Interference Platform (ULIP) that allows tracking of each stage of the supply chain, from the place of production to the market.
“ULIP is the national data gateway for all logistics-related transactions and data from it can track the movement of goods from origin to destination,” Ahirwar said.