India's cold-storage capacity has reached 40.22 million tonnes across 8,815 facilities, equivalent to 84 per cent of the 48 million tonne requirement projected for 2037-38, according to a joint report by FICCI and Grant Thornton Bharat released on Monday, 5 October 2026. The findings underscore two decades of sustained investment in cold-chain infrastructure — but also expose deep structural gaps that continue to drive some of the world's highest food-loss rates.

Where the capacity stands today

Of the existing 40.22 million tonnes of cold storage, approximately three-quarters is dedicated to a single commodity — potato. Geographically, more than half of all capacity is concentrated in just two states: Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The report flags this as a structural imbalance, calling for multi-commodity and multi-temperature facilities closer to major horticultural production centres, linked through reliable transport networks.

The segments furthest behind their long-term targets are critical to reducing losses at source. Pack-houses account for just 0.4 per cent of the long-term target, reefer vehicles for 3.8 per cent, and ripening chambers for 7.1 per cent. These three components are essential for removing field heat, grading produce near farms, and maintaining temperature integrity during transit — precisely where losses are heaviest.

The scale of food loss

India loses an estimated 13.9 to 43.4 million tonnes of fruit and vegetables annually, the report found — with the bulk of spoilage occurring before the first cold point and during transit. Broadening the lens to all perishables, total food loss across horticulture, dairy, meat, poultry and fish stands at 17 million to 47 million tonnes per year. Post-harvest losses across 54 crops are valued at approximately ₹1.5 lakh crore annually — a figure that starkly illustrates the economic cost of under-investment in first-mile infrastructure.

Investment required under the India Cooling Action Plan

Closing the infrastructure gap will require significant capital. Building the pack-houses, reefer vehicles, and ripening chambers envisaged under the India Cooling Action Plan could require approximately ₹1.75 lakh crore through 2037-38, or roughly ₹8,800 crore annually, according to the report. This positions cold-chain expansion as one of the larger agri-logistics investment targets in the country's medium-term policy pipeline.

Industry voice: First mile and transit are priorities

Rizwan Soomar, Chairman of the FICCI Committee on Logistics and Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director for Subcontinent, Central Asia, Levant and Egypt at DP World, said that 'a robust cold chain encompasses the entire movement of temperature-sensitive products from the farm and first mile through storage, transportation, distribution, and the final point of consumption.' His remarks signal that industry consensus has shifted from focusing solely on warehouse capacity to integrating movement and last-mile delivery into cold-chain planning.

What needs to happen next

The report identifies first-mile handling and refrigerated transportation as the two highest-priority gaps for policymakers and private investors. Notably, India's existing cold-chain build-out has been overwhelmingly skewed toward bulk storage rather than the dynamic, transit-linked infrastructure needed to cut losses at source. Without a corrective push toward pack-houses and reefer connectivity, bridging the remaining 16 per cent of the 2037 target may deliver warehouse tonnage without meaningfully reducing the ₹1.5 lakh crore annual loss bill.