Rapid development aids growth in the East

Government grants and subsidies on infrastructure and logistics would play a key role in the development of the industry here

Despite all obstacles faced, eastern and north-eastern states in India are emerging as strong players in the cold chain industry due to increased infrastructure for warehouses and growth in logistics capacity.

Debarata Satpathy, Regional Business Manager – East, Snowman Logistics, shares some facts.

The Indian logistics market is expected to be driven by the growth in manufacturing, retail, FMCG, and e-commerce sectors. Development of logistics-related infrastructure such as dedicated freight corridors, logistics parks, free trade warehousing zones, and container freight stations are expected to improve efficiency. Nearly 60 per cent of the modern warehousing capacity in India is concentrated in the top six cities Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, and Pune. This is driven by concentration of industrial activity and the presence of a sizeable urban population around these clusters. Going forward, due to factors like quality of infrastructure and availability of labour, these advantages are likely to remain with these cities. Northeast India shares 98 per cent of its border with Bhutan, Bangladesh, China, and Myanmar. Thus, it is seen as an important international trade corridor with commerce opportunities with these neighbouring countries. In addition, tourism to the region has been dramatically increasing in recent years. Siliguri connects India’s northeastern states to the rest of India. It also connects India with the countries of Nepal, Bangladesh, and Bhutan. Going forward, it will be treated as an Integrated Check Post (ICP) with immigration, customs clearance, border security, a parking facility and warehousing, all in one complex. Guwahati, a gateway to the Northeast, is the second-largest metropolitan region in eastern India, after Kolkata. It is wellconnected to New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai by air, and to almost all parts of the country by rail or road. With improvement in infrastructural facilities and increase in third party logistics, the market is seeing a lot of demand for IT-enabled warehousing facilities. A list of favourable factors such as diverse agro-climatic conditions, varied soil types, and abundant rainfall has enabled north-eastern regions to excel in horticulture and develop products that can be traded within the country and also abroad. In spite of producing 90 per cent of the total pineapple grown in India, these states have to transport it to different parts of the country for processing due to lack of large-scale manufacturing and processing facilities. Apart from pineapple, there is an abundant production of kiwi and ginger. A few measures can contribute to great results in improving the status of cold chain industry in the north-eastern regions. Conventional storage can be modernised and multipurpose cold storage can be used for various commodities. Rather than focusing on development of cold storage, an end-to-end cold chain that would deliver goods from source to store would be beneficial. Government grants and subsidies for cold chain infrastructure, logistics, and transportation development would play a key role in the development of the cold chain industry here. There is also a need to drive skill development programmes.