Railway Budget 09-10: Opportunities for cold chain infrastructure in West Bengal

KOLKATA: Mamata Banerjee’s announcement that "the railways will encourage creation of cold storages for perishable goods at certain select

stations in partnership with the private sector" is seen as an opportunity for expanding the cold chain infrastructure in West Bengal. This was indicated by a top official in the state department of food processing industry and horticulture.

If the Railways really take such an initiative, the department in the first place wants creation of such facilities at Howrah, Sealdah, New Jalpaiguri and Siliguri stations, said the official who spoke to ET on the condition of anonymity.

Elaborating on the point, he said even as Howrah and Sealdah are not production centres per se of farm goods, they are important commercial hubs and gateways to multiple consumption centres in adjoining districts of Kolkata. If a cold chain infrastructure can be built near New Jalpaiguri and Siliguri stations, it will immensely improve the farm economy of north Bengal, which is slowly emerging as an important production centre for fruits, vegetables and flowers, he said.

Another official closely linked with the development of a flower hub at Mallickghat said if a cold storage comes up at Howrah, under the sponsorship of the railways, it can be integrated with the upcoming flower auction mart at the Mallickghat, construction of which is underway.

At present, the state has two large sized cold chains for perishable goods. Named as Centre for Perishable Cargo (CPC), one such chain has come up at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata and another at Bagdogra airport, which have been funded and implemented by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).

The railways minister’s announcement of involving the private sector in building cold storages at stations has been welcomed by the West Bengal Cold Storage Association. An official of the association said it will encourage private developers to venture into the cold storage building ventures. Plus, creation of multi-product cold chains, under the railways patronage, at important production centres, as announced by Ms Banerjee, will be of great help to vegetable growers and floriculturists in the state since 80% of the total cold storage capacity here is devoted to preserving potato, he said.

To link production centres with consumer centres through special trains for transporting handloom and handicraft products, as announced by the railways minister in her budget speech, possibilities can be explored linking some SSI clusters in the state, said an official of the MSME Development Institute. Initially, such linkages can be built at few of the state’s important traditional craft hubs like Shantiniketan, Bankura, Purulia and Khagra, he suggested.

However, site selections for setting up cold chains or for creation of new link routes for ferrying handicraft/handloom items rest entirely with the railways. The minister in her 2009-10 railway budget speech has clearly stated that the railways will tie up with professional agencies to identify locations and designing proper services while selecting such sites and routes.