Executive Summary:
This document is the Indian government's response to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 4653 regarding the Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure Scheme, answered on August 21, 2025. It outlines the scheme's objectives, components, approved projects, beneficiary eligibility, financial assistance, capacity creation, and impact on post-harvest losses and employment, with data up to June 30, 2025. The scheme aims to link producers to markets, reduce post-harvest losses, and ensure fair prices for farmers.
Key Points / Main Content:
Scheme Objectives and Components:
* The scheme aims to provide integrated cold chain and value addition infrastructure from farm gate to consumer.
* It targets the reduction of post-harvest losses for non-horticulture produce, dairy, meat, poultry, and marine fish (excluding shrimp).
* Key components include: Farm Level Infrastructure (FLI), Processing Center (Mandatory), Distribution Hub (DH), and Refrigerated vans/trucks/insulated vans/mobile insulated tankers.
Project Approvals and Beneficiaries:
* Annexure I provides the state-wise number of cold chain projects approved from 2022-23 to 2024-25.
* Eligible beneficiaries include individuals, Central/State PSUs, Joint Ventures, NGOs, Cooperatives, Self-Help Groups, Farmer Producer Organizations/Companies, Public/Private Sector Companies, Limited Liability Partnerships, Partnership firms, and proprietorship firms.
* Financial assistance includes grants-in-aid/subsidies: 35% of eligible project cost in general areas, 50% in difficult areas, with a maximum of Rs. 10.00 crore per project for SC/ST, FPOs, and SHGs.
Capacity Creation and Impact:
* 291 integrated cold chain projects have been completed and operationalized from 2008-09 to June 30, 2025.
* This has led to the creation of 25.52 LMT per annum preservation capacity and 114.66 LMT per annum processing capacity.
* The scheme has generated 1,74,600 employment opportunities across the country.
* Annexure II provides state-wise details on preservation/processing capacity and employment generated.
* Annexure III details district-wise data for Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Odisha, including the impact on capacity and employment.
Impact Analysis:
Farmers:
* Impact: Increased access to markets and remunerative prices for their produce due to an improved cold chain infrastructure.
* Action Required: Utilize the established cold chain facilities to reduce post-harvest losses and improve profitability.
Food Processors:
* Impact: Enhanced availability of raw materials and improved supply chain, leading to increased processing capacity and reduced losses.
* Action Required: Integrate with the cold chain network to ensure efficient processing and distribution of food products.
Consumers:
* Impact: Year-round availability of food products at potentially stable prices due to reduced post-harvest losses.
* Action Required: Benefit from the availability of a wider range of food products throughout the year.
Government:
* Impact: Achievement of scheme objectives related to reducing food waste, supporting the food processing industry, and generating employment.
* Action Required: Continue monitoring the implementation of the scheme and assess its impact on the food processing sector.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Food Processing Industries: A ministry of the Government of India responsible for food processing industries.
Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure Scheme: A government scheme focused on developing cold chain infrastructure and adding value to food products.
Shri Ravneet Singh: Minister of State for Food Processing Industries.
Andhra Pradesh: A state in India where cold chain projects were approved under the scheme.
Rajasthan: A state in India where cold chain projects were approved under the scheme.
Odisha: A state in India where cold chain projects were approved under the scheme.
Lok Sabha: The lower house of the Parliament of India, where the question regarding the scheme was raised.
Farmer Producer Organisation: An eligible entity to avail benefit under Cold Chain scheme.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4653
ANSWERED ON 21ST AUGUST, 2025
INTEGRATED COLD CHAIN AND VALUE ADDITION INFRASTRUCTURE
SCHEME
4653. SHRI LAVU SRI KRISHNA DEVARAYALU:
SHRI P P CHAUDHARY:
DR. K SUDHAKAR:
SHRI BIBHU PRASAD TARAI:
Will the Minister of FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES be pleased to state:
(a) the objectives and key components of the Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition
Infrastructure Scheme;
(b) the number of projects approved under the said scheme during the last three years,
State-wise including Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Odisha;
(c) the categories of beneficiaries eligible for grant-in-aid and the amount of financial
assistance provided to units thereunder in each of the States of the country;
(d) the details of preservation and processing capacity created in the country including
Rajasthan along with the types of facilities established in the said States thereunder;
(e) the extent to which the said scheme has contributed in reducing post-harvest losses and
generating employment in food processing sector across the country including the said
States; and
(f) the specific impact observed in the said States including district-wise data on cold chain
units, if available?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES
(SHRI RAVNEET SINGH)
(a): As per the extant scheme guidelines dated 22.05.2025 of the Integrated Cold Chain
and Value Addition Infrastructure (Cold Chain scheme), it provides integrated cold chain,
preservation and value addition infrastructure facilities without any break from the farm gate
to the consumer in order to reduce post-harvest losses of non-horticulture produce, dairy,
meat, poultry, marine/fish (except shrimp). Cold Chain projects established under the scheme
link producers to food processors and market through a well-equipped supply chain and cold
chain, thereby ensuring remunerative prices to farmers and year-round availability of food
products to consumers.
The key components of the Cold Chain scheme are:
(i) Farm Level Infrastructure(FLI)
(ii) Processing Centre (Mandatory Component)
(iii) Distribution Hub (DH)
(iv) Refrigerated vans/ refrigerated trucks/ insulated vans/ mobile insulated
tankers(b): State-wise number of cold chain projects approved under Cold Chain scheme across
the country including the States of Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Odisha during the last three
years (2022-23 to 2024-25) is provided at Annexure-I.
(c): Any individual/ Central & State PSU/ Joint Venture/ NGO/ Cooperative/Self Help
Group/Farmer Producer Organisation/Farmer Producer Company/ Public & Private Sector
Companies/Limited Liability Partnership / Partnership firm and proprietorship firm are the
eligible entities to avail benefit under Cold Chain scheme.
As Cold Chain scheme is demand driven and being implemented across the country, no
State-wise allocation of funds is made. Expression of Interest is floated for inviting proposals
seeking financial support for setting up of cold chain projects from across the country. Under
this scheme, grants-in-aid/subsidy is provided for setting up of integrated cold chain projects
@35% of the eligible project cost in general areas and @ 50% in case of difficult areas and the
proposals from SC/ST, FPOs and SHGs subject to maximum grants-in-aid/ subsidy of Rs.10.00
crore per project.
(d) & (e): Under Cold Chain scheme, 291 integrated cold chain projects have been completed
and operationalised since inception of the scheme i.e. 2008-09 to 2025-26 (up to 30.06.2025),
which led to creation of 25.52 LMT per annum preservation capacity and 114.66 LMT per
annum processing capacity thereby contributing to reduction in post-harvest losses and
generation of 1,74,600 employment in the country. State-wise details on preservation and
processing capacity created and employment generated from the completed and operationalised
integrated cold chain projects across the country since inception of the Cold Chain scheme i.e.
2008-09 to 2025-26 (up to 30.06.2025) are provided at Annexure-II.
(f): District-wise distribution of completed and operationalised integrated cold chain
projects since inception of Cold Chain scheme i.e. 2008-09 to 2025-26 (up to 30.06.2025) in
the States of Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Odisha and their impact on preservation and
processing capacity created and employment generated are provided at Annexure-III.
*****ANNEXURE-I
ANNEXURE-I REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART (b) OF THE LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4653 FOR ANSWER ON 21.08.2025 REGARDING
“INTEGRATED COLD CHAIN AND VALUE ADDITION INFRASTRUCTURE
SCHEME”
State-wise number of cold chain projects approved under Cold Chain scheme across the
country during the last three years (2022-23 to 2024-25)
S.No. State No. of cold chain projects
approved
1 Andhra Pradesh 6
2 Arunachal Pradesh 1
3 Gujarat 4
4 Haryana 5
5 Karnataka 1
6 Kerala 4
7 Madhya Pradesh 1
8 Maharashtra 14
9 Odisha 4
10 Punjab 3
11 Rajasthan 1
12 Tamil Nadu 7
13 Telangana 5
14 Tripura 0
15 Uttar Pradesh 6
16 Uttarakhand 1
17 West Bengal 3
Total 66ANNEXURE-II
ANNEXURE-II REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART (d) AND (e) OF THE LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4653 FOR ANSWER ON 21.08.2025 REGARDING
“INTEGRATED COLD CHAIN AND VALUE ADDITION INFRASTRUCTURE
SCHEME”
State-wise details on preservation and processing capacity created and employment
generated from the completed and operationalised integrated cold chain projects across
the country since inception of the Cold Chain scheme i.e. 2008-09 to 2025-26 (up to
30.06.2025)
Sr. No. State/UT No. of projects Capacity created LMT
Number of
completed and /annum
employment
operationalised Preservation Processing
generated
Capacity Capacity
1. Andhra Pradesh 22 13200 1.32 2.67
2. Assam 2 1200 0.24 0.04
3. Bihar 3 1800 1.10 5.89
4. Chhattisgarh 2 1200 0.26 0.00
5. Goa 0 0 0.00 0.00
6. Gujarat 21 12600 1.13 11.03
7. Haryana 16 9600 1.51 4.08
8. Himachal Pradesh 13 7800 0.95 0.40
9. Jammu & Kashmir 5 3000 0.16 0.34
10. Jharkhand 0 0 0 0
11. Karnataka 14 8400 0.86 6.90
12. Kerala 4 2400 0.52 0.70
13. Madhya Pradesh 8 4800 0.57 2.21
14. Maharashtra 57 34200 5.21 45.92
15. Orissa 4 2400 0.23 0.30
16. Punjab 21 12600 1.70 5.71
17. Rajasthan 13 7800 1.31 3.24
18. Tamil Nadu 13 7800 0.97 4.59
19. Telangana 10 6000 0.56 6.40
20. Uttar Pradesh 18 10800 1.63 7.57
21. Uttarakhand 27 16200 3.03 4.00
22. West Bengal 12 7200 2.07 1.65
23. Arunachal Pradesh 1 600 0.03 0.11
24. Manipur 1 600 0.09 0.00
25. Meghalaya 0 0 0 0
26. Mizoram 2 1200 0.02 0.32
27. Nagaland 1 600 0.03 0.32
28. Tripura 0 0 0 0
29. Sikkim 0 0 0 0
30. A & N Islands 1 600 0.02 0.27
31. Chandigarh 0 0 0 0
32. D & N Haveli & 0 0 0
0
Daman & Diu
33. Delhi 0 0 0 0
34. Lakshadweep 0 0 0 0
35. Pondicherry 0 0 0 0
36. Ladakh 0 0 0 0
Total 291 174600 25.52 114.66ANNEXURE-III
ANNEXURE-III REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART (f) OF THE LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4653 FOR ANSWER ON 21.08.2025 REGARDING
“INTEGRATED COLD CHAIN AND VALUE ADDITION INFRASTRUCTURE
SCHEME”
District-wise distribution of completed and operationalised integrated cold chain projects
since inception of Cold Chain scheme i.e. 2008-09 to 2024-25 in the States of Andhra
Pradesh, Rajasthan and Odisha and their impact on preservation and processing
capacity created and employment generated
S.No. State/ District No. of projects Capacity created LMT /annum Employment
completed and generated in
Processing Preservation
operationalised Numbers
Capacity Capacity
A Andhra
Pradesh
1 Anantpur 1 0.00 0.19 600
2 Chittoor 2 0.00 1.00 1200
3 East Godavari 5 0.37 0.52 3000
4 Gundur 1 0.06 0.11 600
5 Krishna 4 0.21 0.24 2400
6 Nellore 2 0.09 0.18 1200
7 Prakasam 1 0.30 0.00 600
8 Visakhapatnam 1 0.08 0.19 600
9 West Godavari 5 0.21 0.24 3000
Total 22 1.32 2.67 13200
B Rajasthan
1 Alwar 1 0.01 0.00 600
2 Kota 2 0.49 0.76 1200
3 Jaipur 4 0.00 1.09 2400
4 Bikaner 3 0.46 0.73 1800
5 Bundi 1 0.11 0.27 600
6 Dholpur 1 0.24 0.02 600
7 Hanumangarh 1 0.00 0.38 600
Total 13 1.31 3.24 7800
C Odisha
1 Cuttack 1 0.00 0.01 600
2 Balasore 2 0.12 0.24 1200
3 Khurda 1 0.11 0.05 600
Total 4 0.23 0.30 2400