Indian Railways’ drives for the Development of Cold Chain for Transportation of Perishable Traffic.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to set up Kisan Rail in public-private-partnership(PPP) mode for cold supply chain for perishables, inclusive of milk, meat and fish.
She said, The budget proposes that “To build a seamless national cold supply chain for perishables, the Indian Railways will set up a “Kisan Rail”- through PPP arrangements. There shall be refrigerated coaches in Express and Freight trains as well.”
Towards satisfaction of the spending proposition, following are the significant activities which have just been taken by Indian Railways with respect to Development of Cold Chain for Transportation of Perishable Traffic
Refrigerated Parcel Vans: New design of Refrigerated Parcel Vans (VPR, carrying capacity of 17 tonnes) for transportation of highly perishable parcel traffic was developed, and procured through Rail Coach Factory Kapurthala. At present, Indian Railway has a fleet of nine (09) Refrigerated Parcel Vans available.
These Refrigerated Parcel Vans are booked on round-trip basis, and are charged at 1.5 times the freight of normal VP as per category of train.
Reefer (Ventilated Insulated) Rail Containers: 98 Ventilated Insulated Containers (Carrying capacity 12 Tonnes per container, rake composition 80 containers) have been procured, through CONCOR, for movement of fruits and vegetables to different parts of the country.
Cold Storage Facilities for Perishables: Temperature controlled perishable cargo centres’ have been commissioned at Ghazipur Ghat (U.P), New Azadpur (Adarsh Nagar, Delhi) and Raja ka Talab (U.P) as a pilot project under Kisan Vision Project by CONCOR under CSR initiative. Another project is under construction at Lasalgaon, Nasik (Maharashtra).
Approval has been granted to Central Railside Warehousing Corporation (CRWC) to develop temperature controlled storages at Fatuha and Mancheswar.
Cold storage facilities have also been developed at Dadri. Fresh & Healthy Enterprise Ltd. (FHEL) has been redeveloped as Agriculture Logistic Center at Rai, Sonepat. This facility is CONCOR’s 100% owned subsidiary developed in an area of 16.40 acres of land.
Railway Board Chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav said, the Railways is also planning to expand the Kisan Rail across the country.
Mr Yadav said, the aim of the government is to make Railway, the growth of engine for the country’s economy. He said, the government has also enhanced the investment and will modernize its network across the country in the next five years.