The paper has examined the status of cold storage industry in India and functioning of cold storages using both primary and secondary data. A case study on Jai Jinendra Cold Storage Pvt. Ltd. was conducted in Maharashtra with the help of interviews of the owner and the manager of the cold storage firm. The paper has found that the existing gap between demand and supply of cold storages is huge. Moreover, the growth of cold storage industry has been skewed towards a single commodity cold storage and towards the northern states of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. Potato is the major crop stored in the cold-chain. The case study of the cold storage firm has highlighted that the business of cold-chain is dependent on the performance of agriculture sector, stakeholders’ market perception, location and the physical infrastructure. It was also found that the major impediment in the growth of the cold-chain sector is the huge capital needed for establishing a cold storage. Apart from financial assistance in building cold storages, the Government of India needs to create more awareness on the schemes as well as the technologies of various cold-storage services. Overall, the insights provided by the paper shall be useful for the researchers and policy makers on understanding the present status and functioning of cold storage in India.
Cold storage, cold chain sector, functioning of cold storage, Mumbai
