Overview of India meat production & consumption
The Mughal Empire and Cow
Babar in his will ‘Tuzuk-e- Babari’ tells his son that,
“Humayun should respect the sentiments of the Hindus and hence should not allow
the cow to be sacrificed or killed anywhere in the Mughal Empire. The day any
Mughal emperor ignores this will, the people of India will reject him”.
Many other Mughal Emperors like Akbar, Jahangir, Ahmad Shah
had banned Cow Slaughter in their kingdom. Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan who ruled
the Mysore State in the present day Karnataka had made cow slaughter and beef
eating a punishable offence and the crime would be punished by cutting off the
hands of the person who committed the crime!
Today in India we have over 36000 slaughterhouses!
British Rule and Slaughterhouses
Both Mahathma Gandhi and Pandit Nehru had declared before
Independence that they would ban Cow slaughter in India after Independence.
Obviously they didnt impose it. Why? Thanks to Robert Clive who had converted
the Indian Muslims into believing that beef eating was their religious right.
Cow slaughter had become a vote bank issue. How? Read below.
Robert Clive – the so called Founder of the British Empire
in India who was twice the Governor of Bengal too – on entering India was
astonished and amazed to see the success of the agricultural system here. He
went on researching the reasons for the success of the Indian agriculture and
discovered the root – The Holy Indian Cow. The entire hindu life style revolved
around this animal, not just religiously, but socially. Cow was an integral
part of a Hindu family as was any other human member in the family. He even
found that in many places the total number of cattle was more than the number
of humans living there.
Ancient Indians used cow urine, butter milk and manure, not
artificial chemical fungicides and insecticides. Artificial pesticides also
kill useful microbes in the soil which otherwise help plants absorb nutrients.
So if one uses artificial chemicals in agriculture, plants will be devoid of
nutrients because the useful microbes are dead. So then farmers also become
forced to use artificial fertilizers because plants are not naturally able to
absorb nutrient from the soil. So the artificial pesticides kick in a vicious
cycle where the soil quality is constantly degraded. After all, the trees in
forest grow healthy fruits without the need for any artificial fertilizers!
So Robert Clive decided to break the backbone of agriculture
in India – the holy cows have to be targeted. And thus was opened the first
slaughterhouse of cows in India in 1760 by Robert Clive at Kolkata. It had a
capacity to kill 30,000 cows per day. And anyone can guess within a year’s time
how many cows would have been killed. And within a century India had very
little cattle left to sustain its agricultural needs. And Britain as an
alternative started offering artificial manure, and in this manner urea, phosphate
etc started getting imported from England. Indian agriculture had started
becoming dependent on west invented artificial products and was forced to give
up home grown natural practices.
Guess what, till 1760 most of India had banned not only cow
slaughter, but also prostitution and drinking wine was banned as well. Robert
Clive made all three legal and removed the ban.
Now the British had hit two birds with a single stone by
this move. The first was to break the backbone of the Indian agriculture ie making
cattle not available for agriculture. And the second?
Well, obviously Hindus did not work as butchers at the
slaughter houses opened by the British. And of course the British were well
known for their divide and rule policies which they practiced throughout their
colonial kingdoms then. So what did they do? Well, they hired muslims as
butchers and this was done in almost every slaughterhouse they opened. And this
slowly pushed the muslims into believing that beef eating was their religious
right.
What the Mughal empire had banned had been turned into a
practice by the British empire. What Babur and Akbar termed as a crime was
converted into a norm by Robert Clive. And today the soil of India is filled
with artificial fertilizers and pesticides while the holy Cow cries in the
slaughterhouses. While there were over 70 breeds of cows in the country at the
time of independence, today we have only 33 and even among them many breeds are
facing extinction.
Guess what happened to the man who started all this? Robert
Clive became a opium addict and later committed suicide by stabbing himself
with a pen knife after being unable to withstand the pain caused by the illness
that had resulted from opium addiction.
India is set to emerge as the world's leading beef exporter this year, the
US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service has
forecast.
India is set to emerge as the world's leading beef exporter
this year, the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Foreign Agricultural
Service has forecast. India will ship roughly 1.5 million tonnes of beef in
2012, surpassing current top exporter Australia, according to the USDA report.
That is more than double the exports India logged three years ago.
According to the report, global beef production in 2012 will
be virtually unchanged from the last forecast of 57 million tonnes.
Global exports, however, are expected to increase by 497,000
tonnes to a record 8.7 million tonnes. India is seen accounting for 250,000
tonnes of the incremental exports, with additional export-oriented
slaughterhouses expected to come on line this year.
Exports account for 44% of beef production in the country.
The growth in exports thus underpins production increases.
For all that, Indian beef is not really beef as say the Americans
know it — not a patch on Angus. It is water buffalo — and males and
unproductive females at that — which exporters sell at lower cost to the
meat-hungry, but price-sensitive consumers in the Middle East, North Africa and
Southeast Asia.
Slaughter of cows and milk-producing buffaloes is banned
under Indian laws. But the USDA still counts it all as beef, and economically,
it competes in the same markets, the report said. To its credit, deboned frozen
buffalo meat, also called carabeef, from India is lean and has positive
blending characteristics important to processors. As per the most recent
livestock census, conducted in 2007, buffaloes comprise a third of the bovine
herd in India.
Slaughter houses in India (growth in slaughter house + procedure, hygiene
and food safety in slaughter)
SLAUGHTER HOUSE WASTE AND DEAD ANIMALS
As per 1989 survey, India has the world’s largest population
of livestock, with nearly 191 million cattle. 70 million Buffaloes, 139 million
Sheep and Goat,
10 million Pigs and over 200 million poultry. About 36.5% of
Goat, 32.5% of Sheep, 28% of Pigs, 1.9% of Buffaloes and 0.9% cattle are
slaughtered every year. The reported per capita availability of meat in India
is about 1.4 kg per annum, which is rather low compared to 60-90 kg in European
countries.
As reported by the
Ministry of Food Processing, as of 1989, a total of 3616 recognized slaughter
houses slaughter over 2 million cattle and buffaloes, 50 million sheep and
goat, 1.5 million pigs and 150 million poultry annually, for domestic
consumption as well as for export purposes.
While the slaughter
houses come under the purview of the animal husbandry division of Ministry of
Agriculture mainly for the purpose of funding towards expansion and
modernization activities, the respective local bodies are mainly responsible
for day-to-day operation/maintenance of the slaughter houses. Most of the
slaughter houses in the country are service-oriented and, as such, perform only
the killing and dressing of animals without an onsite rendering operations.
Most of the slaughter houses are more than 50 years old without adequate basic
amenities viz. proper flooring, ventilation, water supply, lairage, transport
etc. In addition to these deficiencies, slaughter houses suffer from very low
hygiene standard posing a major public health and environmental hazards due to
discrete disposal of waste and highly polluted effluent discharge. Unauthorised
and illicit slaughtering has also increased manifold and thus the related
problems.
MAGNITUDE OF THE PROBLEM
With growing annual per capita meat consumption, high meat
export potential, large non-utilisation of potential meat animals, the
development of meat industry in India is controlled not by the Government but
the existing market forces. The unorganised nature of this trade is the main
feature in this industry that has not been able to use state of the art of
technology available in global meat market. This sector is facing many problems
and constraints while going for modernisation as under-mentioned:
·
Subjects of slaughtering of animals and related
activities are governed as State subjects under the provisions of Article 48 of
the Constitution of India.
·
There are religious and political controversies
over the large animal slaughter particularly bullocks.
·
A vociferous pressure group emerging out of
religious feelings does hinder the modernisation of slaughter houses.
·
The Government’s policies do not permit
slaughtering of younger animals. Therefore, illegal slaughtering of calves is
done in every city.
·
Moreover the introduction of humane slaughter
methods have proved unsuccessful due to certain religion constraints, whereas
existence of powerful religious concern over cruelty to animals cannot be ignored.
·
Due to Government control, religious beliefs and
some of the constraints as explained above the ante-mortem and post-mortem
inspections cannot be done at inadequately equipped slaughter houses and also
it leads to illegal slaughtering of animals at a very high level.
·
Animals are often available for slaughter only
when they are useless for any other purpose.
·
Lack of care during the transportation results
into cruelty to animals, weight loss and high mortality.
·
Many of the animals are of poor breeds for meat
production and suffer from malnutrition, endemic diseases and widespread
parasitic infestation.
·
The meat industry is considered as unclean,
unsocial and low caste occupation.
·
Comparatively small number of rich butchers who
exploit the local labour force presently dominates the entire meat industry.
·
The long chain of middlemen results in high mark
of prices between the farmers’ gate and the terminal market.
Because
of the reasons stated above and the fact that most of the slaughter houses in
the country are more than 75 years old and also there is a noticeable increase
in illegal activities of slaughtering animals, the meat industry does not meet
the standards for discharge of effluents as laid down and notified under the
Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
Eating
habit of non-vegetarian population is generally controlled by the prevailing
market price of meat. It has been observed that meat from large animals is sold
at one third of the price of mutton from sheep/goat or chicken and fish. The
availability of large animals, i.e. bullocks and buffaloes has also increased
over the years due to better breeding practices adopted in animal husbandry
programmes, better veterinary care of animals and ever growing mechanisation of
agriculture. Since the requirement of bullocks for farming purposes has
decreased over the years, the dairy farmers sell the male calves at a younger
age. The calf leather also fetches a good price for the butcher. The facilities
available at meat markets are not good enough to keep the meat fresh for longer
time. The butchers are not ready to bear the transportation costs for
transporting meat from the slaughter houses to the shops. Hence, most of the
butchers prefer to slaughter animals next to their shops. This particular
scenario of illegal slaughtering at the door-step of the shops poses a great
hazard to the local governments not only from public health point of view but
also for the disposal of wastes in a scientific manner.
The wastes from
slaughter houses and packaging houses are similar chemically to domestic
sewage, but are considerably more concentrated. They are almost wholly organic,
chiefly having dissolved and suspended material. The principal deleterious
effect of these wastes on streams and water courses is their deoxygenation. The
type of waste produced by the separate operations are shown as under:
Source Waste
Stockyard manure
Killing floor blood
Dehairing hair
and dirt
Insides removal paunch
manure and liquor
Rendering stick
liquor or press liquor
Carcass dressing
flesh, grease, blood, manure
By-products grease,
offal
The typical
characteristics of the effluent coming out from the slaughter house are as
follows:
Parameters
Characteristic
1.
Quantity -
2000 cum/day
2.
Total solids -
4000 to 5000
mg/1
3.
BOD
- 4000 mg/1
4.
COD
- 8000 mg/1
5.
pH -
6 to 7
CLASSIFICATION
At present there are
no official norms for classification of slaughter houses. However, depending
upon the type of animals slaughtered, the slaughter houses are classified into:
·
Large animal (i.e. cattle, buffalo etc.)
slaughter house
·
Goat and sheep slaughter house
·
Pig slaughter house
·
Poultry slaughter house
In order to assess
the variations in pollution load with respect to number of animals slaughtered,
Bovines and Goat & Sheep slaughter houses are further classified into
following categories:
·
Large Scale
- More than 200 large animals
i.e. Bovines per day or more than 1000 goat and sheep per day.
·
Medium Scale - More than 50 and upto 200 large
animals or more than 300 upto 1000 goat and sheep/day.
·
Small Scale - Less than 50 Bovines and 300 goat
and sheep per day.
Large scale slaughter
houses are located mainly in big cities, medium slaughter houses in
district/towns while the small scale slaughter houses are scattered all over
the country.
OPERATIONS DURING SLAUGHTERING OF ANIMALS
Present Scenario
Slaughtering
In India mostly slaughtering of animals is done either by
way of halal or jhatka method. Halal
is the method preferred by Muslims and jhatka by the Hindus/Christians/Sikhs,
etc. To slaughter the animals in a humane way stunning of the animals is
prescribed, but in most of the cases stunning before slaughtering has yet not
been adopted due to certain religious feelings.
Bleeding
In both the above methods of
slaughtering, blood collection is not done immediately on slaughtering and most
of the blood goes down into municipal drains causing pollution. Blood of the
animals, which can be collected for making use in pharmaceutical industry, is
thus by and large lost. Due to inadequate facilities at the slaughter houses
and scattered illegal slaughtering of animals, a very few slaughter housed collect
blood.
Dressing
Due to lack of means and tools,
dehiding of the carcasses is done on the floor itself, which causes
contamination of the meat. The hides and skins are spread on the floor of the
slaughtering area. Similarly legs, bones, hooves etc. are not removed
immediately from the slaughtering area.
Evisceration
This particular process during slaughtering generates
maximum amount of waste. The butchers who carry out illegal slaughtering of
animals generally throw visceral material at the community bins and wash the
small intestines at their shops itself and thus create pollution problem.
Meat Processing
Major products : Frozen and
packed meat & poultry mainly in fresh form and egg powder.
The total meat production in the country is 4 million tonnnes.
The total meat production in the country is 4 million tonnnes,
which includes beef, buffalo meat, mutton, goat meat, pork and poultry meat.
However, only about 1% of the total meat is converted into value added products
like sausages, ham becon, luncheon meat, kababs, meatballs etc. The total meat
export during 1999-2000 was worth Rs.845.00 crores consisting mostly of mutton
and buffalo meat out of which 70% was contributed by export of buffalo meat.
Buffalo meat is surplus in India. There is a vast scope to
set up modern slaughter facilities and cold store chains in meat and poultry
processing sector. India’s current level of meat and meat-based exports is
around Rs. 8,000 million. In the last six years foreign investment in this
segment stood at Rs. 5,000 million which is more than 50 percent of the total
investment made in this sector.
The current level of
exports of meat and meat products from India is US$ 190 million, the major
destinations being the countries in the Middle East and South East Asia.
Major markets
Buffalo Meat Malaysia,
Philippines, UAE, Iran, Jordan
Sheep/goat Meat Saudi
Arabia, UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait
Animal Products Portugual,
France, UK, Spain, Netherlands
Processed Meat Seychelles,
Germany, Oman, Congo, Sri Lanka
Meat Production Centres
The major meat production centres for exports are as under:
·
Aurangabad, Nanded, Bombay and Satara in
·
Maharashtra
·
Goa
·
Medak Dist. In Andhara Pradesh.
·
Derabassi in Punjab
·
Aligarh, Unnao and Ghaziabad in UP
·
Cochin in Kerala
Infrastructure facilities
·
India has several integrated mechanized slaughterhouse-cum
meat processing plants and has facilities for slaughtering, processing,
freezing packing and cold storage of meat. Refer containers are easily
available for factory stuffing of frozen meat. Some of the exporters have
started backward integration for rearing of animals wherein they provide
veterinary health coverage and concentrated feed in the catchment area. Skilled
and technical manpower for slaughtering, processing, packaging etc. of meat is
adequately available in the country.
·
The Govt. of India has notified three agencies
namely State Directorates of Animal Husbandry, EIA and DMI for inspection of
meat prior to export. However, the inspection of meat is mainly done by the
State Animal Husbandry Departments. The State Govt. laboratories are not
equipped adequately and do not have skilled staff to conduct various
examinations of meat. These laboratories need to be further strengthened in
terms of modem testing facilities and skilled manpower.
·
We also need to have semi-modern and modern abattoirs
to produce quality meat of international standards. Transportation of refer
containers through railway needs further strengthening.
Export
Products for exports :
Frozen buffalow meat, sheep and goat meat, animal casings (wet salted and
dried). In processed meat products corned buffaloe meat is also exported from
India in small quantities.
Major Destinations : The major markets for export of meat and
meat products are as under :
Buffalo Meat Malaysia
(32%), UAE (22%), Philippines (20%), Iran (5%)
Sheep & Goat Meat UAE
(46%), Saudi Arabia (40%), Oman (8%)
Animal Casings Portugal
(48%, France (1 5%), Spain (14%), Switzerland (5%)
Comed Meat Zaire
(32%), Seychelles (20%), UAE (19%)
Future Market: India can predominantly play a major role in South
East Asia, Africa and East Europe.
Meat Quality and Safety Measures
Most of the export-oriented meat processing plants in India
follow world class sanitary and phytosanitary measures given by the OIE, a
referral institution of WTO. The plants are certified with HACCP (Hazard
Analysis Critical Control Points), ISO-9002 and SGS meeting the OIE norms.
These measures are for meat safety which starts right at the
Primary production level either with the farmers raising 5 –
20 animals or in the feedlot. The identification and trace ability of the
animals from production source to the abattoir is completely maintained. It is
ensured that animals have been raised under disease free conditions of the
diseases related to List ‘A’ of OIE. Except for Foot and Mouth Disease, which
is endemic in a few pockets in India and has an insignificant incidence
(0.001%), India is free from Rinderpest, Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia etc.
India has now launched a massive FMD control programme with Central Government
assistance to make the three zones free of FMD comprising of 56 districts.
In the HACCP, the Critical Control Points (CCP) are closely
monitored at the reception of the animals (procured from disease free areas),
ante-mortem examination, post mortem examination, chilling of carcasses at 0 -
4 degree Celsius for 24 hours to bring pH level below 7, freezing of deboned
meat at –35 to –40 degree Celsius for 10 – 12 hours and storage at –18 degree
Celsius. All these measures exclude the possibility of transferring any
contagious/infectious/zoonotic disease to the importing countries.
The in-house quality laboratories in the plants ensure the
absence of Salmonella, Listeria and permissible limits of E-Coli, Coliform
bacteria.
Almost all the export oriented plants follow the safety
specifications given by the Meat and Meat Product Order of 1993 issued by the
Directorate of Marketing and Inspection, Government of India. In addition, the
measures recommended in Codex Alimentarius are also implemented.
Processing of Meat
There is very little processing. Hardly 1% of the total meat
produced in the country is used for processing. Pork and Poultry meat are used
for production of ham, sausages, patties etc., for the elite market. The meat
processors like Venky, Government Bacon Factories etc, produce these products.
Meat from small ruminants, namely, sheep and goat is also used for production
of traditional Kebabs (Seekh and Shami Kebab).
Buffalo meat is basically used in the household for
preparation of curries and Kebabs. It is also mixed with vegetables like
potatoes, cabbages, turnips, sugar beat to make delicious dishes, to name a
few, besides the irresistible Biryani, which is a mix of meat and rice. Buffalo
steak are also a delicious product. Both Seekh and Shami Kebabs are delicacies
prepared from buffalo meat only, which is liked by all classes of people in
India. The buffalo meat has a great water holding and binding properties, and
is, therefore, used for industrial purposes in the production of sausages,
patties, nuggets, corn beef, ham etc. A large part of the meat in the
Philippines, Thailand, Iran etc., is used for the production of ham and corn
beef.
Export of Meat
India’s international trade in livestock and livestock
products is mainly in live animals (17%), meat and meat products (82%), dairy
products and eggs (1%). At the global level, India’s exports and imports
account for only 0.17% of each. Meat and meat products have dominated the
exports from livestock.
The major export of meat is of buffaloes, which is shown in
Table 3. The export of sheep and goat meat is less and is shown in Table 4. It
may be seen that export of buffalo meat has increased significantly in the last
five years. The export of buffalo meat in 1997-98 was 176,328 M.T., which was
increased to 243,356 M.T. in 2001-2002. Accounting for an increase of 43%.
During 2000-2001, the increase was even greater which stood at 47%. The export
of small ruminant meat (sheep and goat) has decreased during the last five
years. The export of sheep and goat meat registered in 1`997-98 was 7546 M.T.,
which came down to 3915 M.T. in 2001-2002 thus showing a fall of 35%. This has
been due to the reduction in the import by Saudi Arabia. Now this market has
opened for Indian meat, the export of sheep and goat meat will increase.
Cold Chain Meat Industry
Chilled Storage
The time for which meat can be stored at chill temperatures
is influenced mainly by the species of animal, pH, initial level of bacterial
contamination, storage temperature and the type of packaging. High pH (6.0 or
higher) meat will spoil quicker than meat with a pH of 5.3 to 5.7. Also, high
initial levels of bacterial contamination on the surface of the meat will
reduce the storage life because spoilage numbers of bacteria are reached
sooner. Microbiological spoilage is characterised by off-odours, slime
formation and discolouration, and generally, spoilage occurs when the microbial
population reaches around 100 million per cm2. For these two reasons, beef will
keep longer than lamb, because lamb has a higher pH and because of differences
in the slaughter and dressing process, lamb carcasses tend to have higher
numbers of initial bacteria.
Chilled meat should be stored as cold as possible to
maximise the storage period. A temperature of –1ºC to 0ºC is desirable and practical.
Vacuum packaging and packaging in a modified atmosphere of 100% CO2, will
greatly extend storage life. The practical storage lives of different chilled
meat products are listed below,
Practical storage life of chilled meat
|
Product
|
Storage Life
|
Reference
|
|
Carcases/quarters etc in air (0ºC to 2ºC)
Beef
(stockinette)
Beef (poly wrapped)
Lamb & mutton
Offals
|
3 – 4 weeks
12 days
10 – 13 days
7 days
|
1, 2
1
2, 3
2
|
|
Primal cuts – vacuum packed (0ºC)
Beef
Lamb & mutton
Telescoped lamb & mutton
Telescoped lamb & mutton (acetic/lactic
acid treated)
Beef & lamb offal
|
10 – 12 weeks
6 – 10 weeks
6 – 8 weeks
10 – 12 weeks
3 – 4 weeks
|
2, 4
2, 4, 6
4
4
5
|
|
CO2 (100%) gas flushed (0ºC)
Lamb & mutton carcases and cuts Up to 16 weeks 2
|
Up to 16 weeks
|
2
|
Frozen Storage
During frozen storage microbiological growth is arrested,
but meat will slowly deteriorate due to oxidative and other changes. Frozen
storage life is normally limited by the development of adverse flavours caused
by oxidative rancidity of fat. The temperature of storage, method of packaging
and degree of saturation of the fat all affect the onset of these changes. The
effect of temperature is evident in Table 2. Meat from ruminants (saturated
fats) is generally more stable with respect to oxidative changes than meat from
non-ruminants, such as pork. There is also evidence that a longer chilled
storage time before freezing will reduce the frozen storage life - for
instance, if chilled meat has been aged in vacuum packs and then frozen. The
frozen storage life may also be reduced if the product is comminuted, because
this process exposes more meat surfaces to air.
Some people are more sensitive to alterations in flavour
than others, so practical storage periods for frozen meat may depend on the
market destination and the end specific use for the product. The data in Table
2 are based on information from consumer panels tasting boiled, roasted or
grilled samples.
|
Product`
|
-12°C
|
-18°C
|
-24°C
|
Reference
|
|
Beef
(stockinette)
|
12
|
18
|
24
|
7, 8
|
|
Lamb
& mutton (wrapped)
|
8
|
16
|
18
|
7, 8
|
|
Veal
(wrapped)
|
4
|
14
|
8
|
7
|
|
Ground
beef (wrapped)
|
4
|
6
|
8
|
7
|
|
Beef
steaks (vac. packed)
|
8
|
18
|
24
|
8
|
|
Lamb
chops (wrapped)
|
12
|
18
|
24
|
8
|
|
Liver
|
4
|
12
|
18
|
8
|
|
Cooked
meats
|
3
|
4
|
|
7
|
Refrigerated Transportation of meat
Retail cold chain in meat
Future of Cold Chain Industry
Private ventures need to jump in and tap this sector to its
full potential. Major players are part of larger logistics outfits like Gateway
Distriparks, TCI, Container Corporation of India and Gati, and have been
steadily growing in scale. With the average capacity utilization in the
industry ranging between a dismal 30 per cent, to a profitable 75 per cent, the
unit revenue potential of a cold storage facility is governed largely by its
investment in technology and overall service standards. There is a scope of
public private partnerships in the sector as well as greater involvement of
railways and airports in strengthening the cold chain infrastructure.
Additional measures that the government should take to help
the sector are:
1.
Aid in acquisition of land to set up facilities
for cold storage, food processing, etc.
2.
Examine reducing FDI restrictions in retail
3.
Speed up the introduction of GST, which will
generally help the development of large centrally-located warehouses
The cold chain has become one of the most important supply
chain practices in the world today especially because it is used in the
pharmaceutical, food, chemical as well as in the floral industries. India has a
huge opportunity to become a leading global food supplier if only it has the
right marketing strategies and of course efficient supply & cold chains
management. Cold chain is a logistic system that provides a series of facilities
for maintaining ideal storage conditions for perishables from the point of
origin to the point of consumption in the food supply chain. The chain needs to
start at the farm level (e.g. harvest methods, Pre-cooling) and cover up to the
consumer level or at least to the retail level. A well organized cold chain
reduces spoilage, retains the quality of the harvested products and guarantees
a cost efficient delivery to the consumer given adequate attention for customer
service. The food supply chain is complex with perishable goods and numerous
small stake holders. The Indian cold
chains market is largely untapped and lined by several players in the
unorganized sector which clues for immense investment and development
opportunities. It is at a threshold of exponential increase due to developments
taking place in food and retail industry of India. Retail is India's largest
industry, accounting for over 10 per cent of the country's GDP. The businesses started with traditional
corner stores and have emerged to supermarkets and modern retail stores.
The total cold chain market in India is worth Rs. 21,375
million, which is equivalent to US$ 475 million. Chiller Segment, which
includes F & V pack houses, Potato, apple contributes Rs. 16050 million
(US$ 357 Million) to the cold chain market. The profile for the cold chain unit
is created as per requirement of the 3rd / 4th years. Optimum utilization
starts in 5th year. Being capital intensive project key indicators considered
on the 15th year operation. There were 66,765 refrigerators and freezers
installed and operational in the country. The cold chain equipment in the
country has been installed based on population density of each district. Out of
total 66,765 equipment, 63,726 (95%) were placed in 20 larger states and rest
of 5% equipment was installed in smaller states and Union Territories. We have
realized that there is great amount of wastage happening in post Harvest
activities. This wastage is being estimated at 25% of total produce or approx
Rs.50000Cr US $10 Billion. Indian Agriculture sector accounts for 26% of
country ‘s GDP, produces 64% employment and 18% of country’s exporter and
second largest vegetable Exporter but Indian share is only 1% of world trade.
Ministry of Food Processing Industries through its Scheme
for Cold Chain, Value Addition and Preservation Infrastructure is promoting
integrated cold chain projects in the country with an aim to provide integrated
and complete cold chain and preservation infrastructure facilities without any
break, from the farm gate to the Consumer, Enable linking of groups of
producers to the processors and market through well equipped supply chain,
establish value addition with infrastructural facilities like sorting, grading,
packaging and processing for horticulture including organic produce, marine,
dairy, poultry, etc.
The Scheme aims to establish value addition with
infrastructural facilities like sorting, grading, storing, associated
processing and packaging for a variety of products such as fruit and vegetable,
marine, dairy, poultry, etc. The assistance under the Scheme includes financial
assistance (grant-in-aid) of 50% the total cost of plant and machinery and
technical civil works in General areas and 75% for NE region and difficult
areas (North East including Sikkim and J&K, Himachal Pradesh and
Uttarakhand) subject to a maximum of Rs 10 Crore.
India may lag behind the developed countries in cold chain
infrastructure, but the new-found focus will allow it to pick up the best from
the West. There’s scope to bring down inefficiencies in a big way. For
instance, cold chain utilization is just 10 per cent in India, and 25 per cent
in China, as against 80-90 per cent in developed countries. Losses, too, are
lower in the West, at just 5 per cent, as against 35-40 per cent in India and
China. However, there’s a long way to go before India can match up to those
high standards. The cold chain industry itself is estimated to be as large as
Rs 10,000-15,000 crore, growing at 20-25 per cent and is expected to touch Rs 40,000
crore by 2015.
CONCLUSION
The industry will grow leaps and bounds in the coming years
but that will depend upon the quantum of investment flowing into it. Eyes are
on big business houses and corporates who are willing to get into retail sector
to create a backup for them and willingness of the customers to pay premium on
higher quality products will ultimately lead to the growth of cold chain
industry in India.
Sathish kumar Periyasamy
[Transfreez Mobile Refrigeration-Name stands for Refrigerated Trucks India]
