XPS Cargo Services, the fastest growing express cargo company in the country, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Yanmar Co Ltd and Mitsui & Co Ltd, Japan, to offer specialised cool container services.
"Our specialised container service is primarily targeted at the food and pharmaceutical industries. The current market size of the cold chain logistics trade in value terms is around Rs 100 crore, and is expected to grow by at least 30 per cent annually, offering us great potential to grow. We hope to capture at least 40 per cent of this market," K Prabhakar, chief executive officer of XPS Cargo, said.
XPS is the express cargo division of Transport Corporation of India Ltd (TCI), India's leading logistics enterprise.
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The technology labeled 'Cold Chain' has some unique features that have not been experienced by Indian consumers before.
These features include mechanisms that provide high precision temperature and humidity control, and have the capacity to run for more than 100 hours without having to be refueled.
This will prove a major boon for all those in the logistics business, especially those involved in the transport of perishable commodities.
"XPS plans to bring customised cold chain solutions to all its customers by capitalising on the inherent strengths of the cold chain technology," Prabhakar added.
India is the second largest global producer of food. However, the wastage in this sector is alarmingly high, primarily due to inadequate infrastructure and lack of proper transportation facilities.
For instance, though India produces 32 million tonne of fruit (8 per cent of the world output) and 60 million tonne of vegetables (10 per cent of world output), only a paltry 1.3 per cent of the total output is economically processed.
This causes a loss of over Rs 2,000 crore every year. The Cold Chain facility will go a long way in reducing this unnecessary and avoidable wastage.