The government will invite expressions of interest to set up 25 more cold chains across the country to help reduce the annual wastage of vegetables and fruits worth Rs 55,000 crore.
"Our proposal to scale up the number of cold chains has been approved by the Finance Ministry. We are likely to come out with the expressions of interest (EoIs) shortly for setting up of around 25 more cold chain projects," Food Processing Minister Subodh Kant Sahai told PTI.
A top ministry official said that the EoIs would be sought within the next two months.
According to industry estimates, India annually loses over Rs 55,000 crore worth of harvested produce, mostly vegetables and fruits, due to poor infrastructure, including lack of enough cold chains, packaging materials and transport facility.
Analysts say demand from the growing middle-class population, around 300 million now, is expected to give huge impetus to the growth of the food processing sector.
The government encourages entrepreneurs to set up cold chains by providing grants for 40 per cent of the total costs. The government has already awarded contracts for setting up 10 such cold chains and around eight of them are nearing the completion.
The country processes only two per cent of its total production, which is miles behind the processing of 80 per cent of production in Malaysia and the Philippines. Processing of food and vegetables currently stands at just 2.2 per cent and the government aims to increase it to around 20 per cent by 2015.