Integrated Cold Chain Availability Platform

Integrated Cold Chain Availability Platform is envisaged to be a national database that enables active linkage between multiple cold-chain assets across owners, promoting integration of use though collaboration. It is a joint effort of various institutions like National Horticulture Board, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, Ministry of Food Processing Industries and National Centre for Cold-chain Development.

Need for ICAP platform

India is the world's second largest producer of fruits and vegetables. Inspite of it, the per capita market availability of fruits and vegetables in our country is quite low due to lack of appropriate facilities of transportation and storage. It is also frequently estimated that about 25% to 30% of produce, especially fruits and vegetables are wasted. Once originating into the cold-chain, the quality of a sizable quantity of produce also deteriorates en-route till the time it reaches the consumer.

The integration of Farm-gate modern pack-houses, cold storages and reefer transportation, to be used in combination, is therefore essential for extending the usable life of the produce. The use of the extended life span is to make them available to a larger consumer base over a longer period of time.

Currently, India has created about 7129 cold storages of approximate size of over 32 million MT and about 10,000 actively refrigerated vehicles, the majority of which are operated by small cold storage and / or transport service providers. Thus, it is an extremely fragmented industry where critical data about technology used, capacity, installed or available, are either not available or of poor quality. Due to lack of shared information there is little scope of consolidation of the services offered and for integrating the activities into an effective cold-chain.

The Integrated Cold Chain Availability Platform will hence facilitate access to impartial information on integrated cold chain capacities and movement of goods.

Intended users

The intended users include cold-chain asset owners, Farm producers, processors, retailers, government agencies.

Expected benefits

• Direct access to nationwide cold storage capacity created.
• Information to users and regulators on operational availability.
• Will promote linking and integrating activities of cold-chain assets.
• Will allow Farmer producer organizations to plan perishable movement across country.
• Will provide information to agriculture ministry on trade impact in cold-chain sector.
• Will empower government to plan viable public procurement mechanisms basis available cold-chain infrastructure.
• Will bring traceability to food supply chain in perishables sector.
• Will serve as space selling platform for asset owners.
• Will promote buy-sell transactions of perishable goods that are in transit in the chain.
• Will allow alignment of cold storages with marketing act by getting considered as transaction platforms, without the physical diversion of produce to non- cold-chain yards.
• Will add transparency to cold-chain development, to regional availability and about trade lanes for perishables.
• Will provide updated information on energy consumptions and its monitoring in cold-chain.
• Will allow for improved demand-supply gap analysis and guide future cold- chain development

Present features available in ICAP

• Users can access State Wise/Agency Wise Cold Chain Infrastructure Assisted under the Schemes of Government of India.
• A detailed report that gives agency-wise, state and district-wise, component-wise and year-wise report of cold chain infrastructure in India

Source : All India Cold-chain Infrastructure Capacity Assessment of Status & Gap