National Collateral Management Services Limited (NCML), India’s largest private sector agriculture post-harvest management company, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board (APEDB), making an investment of Rs 100 crore in cold chain and storage infrastructure by setting up a processed food distribution hub in Amaravathi, the proposed capital of the southern state.
The proposed hub will be an integrated facility for the storage, handling and distribution of fruits and vegetables, dairy products, frozen foods (viz meat and seafood) and processed foods, amongst other perishables. The project is expected to generate over 1,000 jobs, besides augmenting the cold chain infrastructure in the state.
The MoU which was signed by Sanjay Kaul, managing director and chief executive officer, NCML, and Krishna Kishore, chief executive officer, Economic Development Board, Andhra Pradesh, will facilitate the setting up of a terminal market and processed food distribution hub by NCML near the city of Amaravathi.
Kaul said, “NCML commits to leverage its strengths to put in place a state-of-the art facility to step up the cold chain logistics in Andhra Pradesh. The cold chain segment is both an opportunity as well as a serious challenge today for India, and Andhra Pradesh is an ideal location, as it is as a coastal state of the country.”
Sharing the details with FnB News, Kamna Malhotra, assistant manager, commodity intelligence group and corporate communication, NCML, revealed, “NCML plans to invest Rs 100 crore specifically in the cold chain infrastructure, because it is an underdeveloped sector, and there is a shortage of cold storage units in India.”
She added that in the present time, rapid expansion in cold chain logistics was the need of the hour in the country to cater to the demands of its rapidly-growing and urbanising population and to prevent the high level of wastage in perishables.
“If the sorting and breeding process is done accordingly, farmers will get the correct price, and that will indirectly relate to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of doubling farmers’ incomes’ by 2022,” Malhotra said.
