Gangtok, June 01, 2015
The National Cold chain Summit-II Edition was yet another successful Summit both in terms of content of the program and the participation of key Stakeholders from the sector. The Summit was jointly organised by Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Ministry of Food Processing Industries and National Centre for Cold Chain Development on 25th and 26th of May, 2015 at Gangtok.
The summit was inaugurated by Hon’ble Minister, Ministry of Food Processing Industries Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal. She spoke about the Scheme for Cold Chain, Value Addition and told that the Preservation Infrastructure aims at providing financial assistance up to INR 10 crore for entrepreneurs
Shri SomanthPoudyal Hon’ble Minister Food Security & Agriculture Development & Horticulture & Cash Crops Development and Irrigation & Flood Control Departments, Government of Sikkim also graced the occasion. Smt. Rinchen Omgu, Chief Secretary, Government of Sikkim, Smt. Anuradha Prasad Joint Secretary Ministry of Food Processing Industries Government of India,Mr. PawanexhKohli, CEO and Chief Advisor of National Centre for Cold-chain Development and Mr. Nagahari Krishna from Danfoss addressed the inaugural session.
Other eminent Speakers were Mr. Khorlo Bhutia, Secretary, Horticulture & Cash Crop Development Department, Govt. of Sikkim,Shri M S Dhakad Commissioner & Farm Forestry Government of Madhya Pradesh, Mr. Kuber Bhandari MD SIMFED, Mr. Srinivasa Ramanujam- Business Head Adani Agri Fresh Limited, Shri.Harshal Surange- Director, ACR Project Consultants Pvt Ltd, Dr P Senthil Kumar- Managing Director Sikkim Milk Union, Mr. U Bhutia – Chief Manager Credit- State Bank of India, Shri Kumud Jhamb – Vice President-Equipment Divison ALFALAVAL, Mr. K Sudhakaran – General Manger KINFRA,Shri Anupam Chanda – Sr. Manager, Sun Pharma, Shri Rajesh Aggarwal CEO, Crystal Cool Chain, Shri Arijit Mukherjee- Senior Manager Bry Air.
A Knowledge report on the opportunities of Cold Chain sector- “Cold but Hot:Limitless Opportunities of India’s Cold Chain Sector” prepared by Indian Chamber of Commerce was released by Hon’ble Minister.
Around 180 delegates participated on the first day of the summit. There were participation from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Madhya pradesh, Orrissa, West Bengal, Himachal, Tripura, Gujrat, Punjab, Assam and many other states having a mix of both Industries and Central & State Govt representatives. Necessity of developing integrated cold chain with proper attention to post harvest & logistic management and the associated government schemes along with their fiscal and financial benefits were the key takeaways on the first day.
Training Session on Efficient and Safe Industrial Refrigeration Systems for Cold Storages and Food Processing on the second day was conducted by experts from the sector Mr. Haresh Rupchandani, President Association of Ammonia Refrigeration and Mr. Ravindra Kulkarni Association of Ammonia Refrigeration.
Mr. D Ram Centre in Charge National Horticulture Board (NHB), Mr. HimanshuSheth Sr. Manager ALFALAVAL &Mr. Arijit Mukherjee Sr. Manager Bry Air spoke about the Shemes and Technical aspectes of maintaining cold storages. There were around 50 participants attending the training session and the field visit following the same. Moderninsing the existing cold chain units, shifting from traditional to green cold chains, importance of cold chain maintainence and significance of paying attention to optimal humidity maintainance in cold chains were the main emphasis of the concerned session. The delegates were not only informed regarding the mentioned aspects; rather they were advised on how to attain these objectives with ease. All the participants were enlighted by the practical experience of the session conductors and later given hands on experience through the field visit to a Cymbidium Development Centre in Rumtek.
The Summit was supported by NCCD, NABARD, State Bank of India, Ware housing Development Authourity of India, 
Bry Air, Alfalaval , Danfoss, Simfed, Crystal Cool Chain, NHB Association of Ammonia Refrigeration, U.S. Commercial Service, Sikkim Chamber of Commerce.
Media Partners for the Summit were OEM Update, Food Processing Bazar, The SME Times.com, The Dairy Times.com, Udyogprerna, Food marketing and technology India, Indian Transport & Logistics News, Cargo Connect, Cold Chain Management, Processed Food Industry and Press Information Bureau Sikkim.
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