By Sudarshan Ananth
Territory Vice President and Business Head – HVAC & Transport, India Climate Business Unit
Ingersoll Rand, Bangalore

Introduction
There is a central sector scheme of integrated cold chain, value addition and preservation infrastructure; a centrally sponsored scheme of cold chain, primary processing centre, and reefer trucks under National Mission on Food Processing (NMFP) 

Objectives of the Scheme
• To provide integrated and complete cold chain and preservation infrastructure facilities without any break, from the farm gate to the consumer.
• To enable linking groups of producers to the processors and market through well-equipped supply chain.
• To establish value addition with infrastructural facilities like sorting, grading, packaging and processing for horticulture including organic produce, marine, dairy, poultry, etc. 

Pattern of Assistance
• Provides grant-in-aid @ 50% of the total cost of Plants & Machinery and Technical Civil Works in general areas, and 75% for NE Region and difficult areas subject to a maximum of Rs.10 crore. 

Eligible Components
• Minimal Processing Centre at the farm level with facilities such as weighing, sorting, grading waxing, packing, pre-cooling, controlled atmosphere (CA) and, modified atmosphere (MA) cold storage, normal storage and individual quick freezer (IQF).
• Mobile pre-cooling vans and reefer trucks.
• Distribution hubs with multi-product and multi-CA/MA chambers, cold storage/variable humidity chambers, packing facility, CIP fog treatment, IQF, ripening chamber and blast freezing.
• Irradiation facility. 

Basic Eligibility Criteria
• The applicant should have sound fi nancial background. The net worth of the applicant should be more than 1.5 times the grant applied for.
• Term loan of at least 10% of the project cost.
• Project Appraisal Report from Bank/Financial Institution. The Appraisal must contain all the project components for which grant is sought.
• Date of commercial production should not be prior to the date of submission of application.
• No second proposal from the same applicant/ company 

Other Government Agencies Providing Financial Support to Cold Chain
National Horticulture Board (NHB)
• NHB provides capital investment subsidy for construction, expansion and modernization of cold storages

• Back-ended subsidy @ 40% of the project cost @ Rs.6000 per MT for normal cold storages, @ Rs.7000 and Rs.8000 per MT for specialized cold storages and @ Rs.32,000 per MT for CA storages.

Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA)
• APEDA, under establishment of common infrastructure facilities, provides fi nancial assistance for setting up specialized storage facilities such as CA/ MA cold storages, deep freezers, etc.
• 100% grant-in-aid to APEDA or any other government or public sector agency like Airport Authority of India and Port Trust.
• @25% of the cost subject to maximum of Rs.10 lakh per beneficiary in other cases. 

Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC)
• DAC under National Horticulture Mission (NHM) provides financial assistance for pack house/ on-farm collection and storage unit, pre-cooling unit, cold storage, CA/MA storage, reefer vans, ripening chamber, primary/mobile/minimal processing unit.
• Credit linked back-ended subsidy @40% of capital cost of the project in general areas and @55% in case of hilly and scheduled areas for a maximum storage capacity of 5000 MT per project @Rs.6000 per MT.
• For CA storages @Rs.32000 per MT for 5000 MT storage capacity. 

National Co-operative Development Corporation (NCDC)
• NCDC provides subsidy @20% and 25% of the project cost for Under Developed (UD) and Least Developed (LD) states for setting up of new cold storages, CA stores, MA stores, expansion and modernization of existing cold storages with facilities such as drying, sorting, grading, waxing, packing, precooling, etc.

Reefer Vehicles Scheme
The objective of the scheme is to provide financial assistance for purchase of standalone reefer vehicle/s and mobile pre-cooling van/s (reefer unit and reefer cabinet permanently mounted on the vehicle) for transporting both horticultural and non-horticultural produce. This scheme will enable linking groups of producers to the processors and markets through well equipped supply chain management 

Pattern of Assistance
Credit linked back ended grants-in-aid @ 50% of the cost of new reefer vehicle(s)/ mobile pre-cooling van(s) upto a maximum of Rs.50 lakh is extended under the scheme after submission of all prescribed documents including a Bank Certificate certifying that the Bank has released term loan. 

Process for the Subsidy

Please see Figure 1.
Note: Projects must be fully financed (with bank plus promoter share) before applying for subsidy.
Subsidy is credit linked and back ended, intended to off set credit burden. Subsidy cannot be more than bank loan. Approval process can range from 2 to 8 months depending on projects and need not hold back projects from implementation. The cost norm is applicable for vehicles of multiple carriage capacity vehicles. The vehicle’s dimensions are currently not standardised and various manufacturers supply different sizes.