SEA-invest NV, a fruit terminal operator, is weighing plans to set up a facility with an automated warehouse and cold storage near a port in Mumbai or Kolkata in partnership with a local firm.
This will enable the fruit terminal operator to tap the huge potential in a market where fruits and vegetables worth thousands of crores go to waste every year due to inadequate storage infrastructure.
The Ghent, Belgium-based group, handles over 5.5-million tonnes (mt) of fruits from its terminals located in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Ivory Coast and South Africa. Of this, 1.5 mt is handled at the Antwerp terminal, its largest.
“We are looking to do something in India close to a port,” said Claes. “It should be both for imports and exports because India is a big exporter and importer of fruits. But the area where they do exports is not the area where imports are handled."
"Hence, there is a mismatch. There is a huge demand for cold storage in India, but nobody builds it, though the Indian government is offering incentives for investing in cold chains,” he said.
Source: thehindubusinessline.com
