Effect on prices in the absence …

India’s exports of fruits and vegetables have grown in the last three years due to surging demand in Pakistan, Kuwait, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Overall, India’s exports of fruits and vegetables increased to around $1.4 billion in FY2013-14, which is up about 36% from the previous year, according to the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA). However, exports could get a significant boost with improvement in storage and transport facilities, say experts. India annually suffers around Rs.550 billion as wastage of fruits and vegetables due to inadequate cold storage, supply chain infrastructure and lack of food processing in agri-sector, according to Dr. Santosh Kumar Sarangi, Chairman and Secretary of APEDA. “Only 2% of fresh fruit and vegetables produced in India, which is their second largest producer in the world are stored in the meagerly available temperature controlled facilities against 85% of the leading economies in the world,” Dr. Sarangi said at recent seminar held by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in New Delhi. The PHD Chamber expects India’s logistics sector, valued at 13-14% of GDP, to touch $200 billion by 2020. But the sector remains highly fragmented. India currently has 6,300 cold storage facilities with over 3,500 companies in the value chain, but states like Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal account for nearly 65% share of the total capacity.