Cabinet nod to cold chain centre

The government on Thursday approved setting up of a National Centre for Cold Chain Development (NCCD) to reduce the post-harvest losses of perishables in the country.

“The Union Cabinet on Thursday gave its ex-post facto approval for registering the NCCD as a society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, with its Memorandum of Association and Rules and Regulations,” an official statement by the government said.

Allocating a one-time grant of Rs 25 crore as corpus fund for the NCCD, the Centre gave clearance to the proposal of allowing all stakeholders’ membership in the society in a Public Private Partnership mode.

The NCCD will be having a governing council under the chairmanship of secretary with 22 members, covering government officials, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), growers, cold chain equipment manufacturers and supplies.