Amul, a milk cooperative from Gujarat, is working on a cold storage chain powered by solar energy to protect its dairy supply. India lacks logistics and cold storage networks because of multiple regulatory licenses and a lack of private sector investment. As a consequence, FMCG products are spoiled during transportation.
Amid growing concern of climate change and its impact on food security, this initiative by Amul of providing sustainable dairy logistics places it at the front line in tackling climate change issues faced by businesses.
According to the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, in 2024, India ranks first in milk production, which is 25% of the global milk production. However, 3% of the total is lost because of poor logistics and inadequate cold storage facilities, and infrastructure.
With rising temperatures and fuel prices, this adds to the cost of milk production, thereby hitting consumers’ pockets.
Amul is using solar energy to solve delivery and storage problems. It is setting up solar milk chillers and cold storage units that run on solar power. This is especially helpful in western India, where temperatures can go as high as 50°C.
These facilities will have 26,000+ litres of chilling capacity. This will allow 3% reduction in spoilage, and ₹1 saved per litre will be provided to farmers.
The refrigerated transport facility is equipped with temperature sensors and real-time alerts, which will help to maintain optimal temperature required to protect food products. This initiative will reduce wastage, which will in turn help farmers to maintain their income, and companies can provide affordable dairy products to consumers as well.
But despite the progressive initiative, challenges still remain: only 2% of Indian rural areas have cold storage facilities. There is a knowledge gap in rural areas for maintaining solar infrastructure. Amul will have to navigate through these challenges to bring success to its initiative.
But overall, the cold storage supply chain powered by solar power helps in reducing carbon emissions by businesses and could be a learning opportunity for the government and other businesses. Government can work on the same lines to improve food security issues in India.
Sources
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