Two Decades Later, West Bengal Sees A Japanese Project: A Cold Chain Network In Singur To Arrest Post Harvest Loss

Kawasaki Rikuso Transportation (KRT) has set up a cold chain network in Singur three years after starting the project, The Hindu has reported. The KRT facility is the first Japanese project in the state after two decades. The facility has been funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

“The idea is to ensure that farmers can store the unsold vegetables for up to four days in the warehouse. If it remains reasonably fresh, they can get a better price,” Consul General of Japan in Kolkata, Masayuki Taga told The Hindu.

As per a National Centre for Cold-chain Development (NCCD) report, India needs 70,000 pack-houses, each equipped with a pre-cooler dispatch room for onwards transport links. However, the country has 250 pack-houses.

“While the objective is to ensure that the post-harvest loss is arrested, the key problem of implementing it is massive electricity consumption in the warehouse, which KRT has solved by using solar power,” Joint Director of the State’s Agricultural Marketing Department Gautam Mukherjee remarked.

Solar panels fitted to the warehouse to meet electricity requirement have been procured from a Tata Group company. About a decade back, the Tata’s automobile unit had to leave Singur due to a land acquisition movement led by the current West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.