FNB News - Danfoss sets up India’s 1st model green cold storage facility at Sonipat

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Danfoss sets up India’s 1st model green cold storage facility at Sonipat

Saturday, 25 April, 2015, 08 : 00 AM [IST]

Ashwani Maindola, New Delhi

Danfoss India, a leading energy and climate solutions provider, has engineered a model green cold storage facility in Haryana’s Sonipat for Sabharwal Food Industries Pvt. Ltd. The Rs 25 million multi-commodity cold storage was inaugurated on Friday.

Situated just three km from Delhi Haryana Border, on NH1 to cater to the region of Delhi, NCR and northern India, the facility is being claimed as the first green cold storage model at Roshan Frozen and Cold Storage (Sabharwal Group Company), in Sonipat, facilitating quality food safety and minimum food loss from farm to consumer.

According to Danfoss, the model cold storage facility is designed to European standards, has palletised storing capability and is equipped with material handling keeping in mind the hygiene norms to minimise human intervention.
In addition to ensuring superior food quality, the facility is also the most cost-effective and energy- efficient solution in the market catering to some of India’s renowned and established companies in food retail, processed food and frozen food markets like HUL, Nestle, and Mother Dairy.
Besides, being compliant with FSSAI norms, the cold storage has a capacity of 5000 MT/7200 pallet positions and is equipped with applications to ensure food safety of superior standards with zero refrigerant emissions.
It is also compatible with temperature range from -25 to +20 degree Celsius, and the facility can save up to 15-20 per cent in energy costs vis-a-vis a conventional cold store and is set to be a strong example for India’s evolving cold chain infrastructure which is being built. It has also blast freezing facility up to -35 degree.
At the facility, six vehicles can be docked at a time at the entries to the cold storage chambers. Delivery from the vehicle to the storage rooms is a sealed process, controlling the entire area and temperature to avoid food loss. Most of the functions are mechanical to ensure food safety unlike in a conventional cold room where workers are involved in the movement of the stocks. The entry is swipe card controlled to minimise human contact with the food products thereby improving the hygiene quotient in handling food. Equipped with tracking and traceability functions, Sabharwal is capable of operating the cold store all-round the year with varying loads allowing customers to stock and cater to demand as required, according to Danfoss.
Anil K Sabharwal, director, Sabharwal Food Industries Pvt. Ltd, said, “We have been a Danfoss customer since 1996 and this facility we see today is a result of the efficient technology and people behind it. Danfoss has offered and installed their best in class controls, valves, VFDs (Variable Frequency Drives) and system manager allowing us a seamless operation experience and we expect energy savings of 15-25%. However, being a new project we are expecting full utilisation of capacity in 6 to 9 months by when the detailed results will be known.”
Addressing the gathering at the inaugural function, Ravichandran Purushothaman, president, Danfoss India, and chairman, CII National Task Force for Cold Chain Management, stated, “Energy consumption for cold stores is highly influenced by the design criteria of the refrigerating system. Studies have revealed that 60-70% of the total consumed electricity in cold stores is used for the refrigeration plant. We have closely worked with customers in India and have engineered innovative solution which helps companies like Sabharwal Food Industries Pvt. Ltd cut down their opex by 20% with energy-efficient solutions .This has not just direct benefit to cold storage owners but also helps farmers to maintain right storage conditions & reduces weight losses for produces thereby increasing their pricing realisation.”
He added that being a key enabler in the sustainable farm-to-fork process, Danfoss plays a crucial role in saving energy and operational costs in the refrigeration, food processing & retail and dairy sectors across packaging, processing and transport. To cite an example, the Danfoss technology which finds application in the Indian dairy sector with regard to refrigeration, processing and storage helps the industry save almost 34% on milk chilling costs.
Customised solutions by Danfoss ranging from variable frequency drives to industrial refrigeration applications like valves and electronic controllers such as liquid level controllers, defrost controller, pulse modules, and extension modules among others have been instrumental in realising this green cold room.
Further, being the Indian subsidiary of a global trendsetter in the climate and energy space, Danfoss India, too aims to lower the negative impact of energy consumption on the environment and believes that energy efficiency as an alternate fuel can help achieve the desired levels of sustainability across industries.
“Danfoss applications, globally, have helped the food retail industry lower their opex considerably and furthered profitability. In India, while energy costs are not as high due to the differentiated energy policies capital costs are among the highest. So while it’s encouraging to see the governments thrust towards making India a global sourcing hub, it is important to acknowledge the subsequent rise in urbanisation levels with the demographic shift from rural to urban putting tremendous pressure on the state to provide for food and energy. In light of this never ending cycle, it is important for concerted efforts to be made by the private sector in collaboration with the government to ensure that the country reaches a certain level of self-sufficiency with regard to its own energy requirements,” concluded Noel Ryan, president, Danfoss Commercial Compressors.
According to experts, growth in the organised retail and food service industry coupled with rising export demand for processed and frozen food have contributed towards the interest in reviving this sector. Increasing demand for improved food quality, freshness, better hygiene standards, temperature controlled delivery, and year-round availability are crucial for the food industry.
Meanwhile, India’s cold chain industry is still evolving, scattered and operating below capacity. As per ASSOCHAM reports, the Indian cold chain market is highly fragmented with more than 5,000 cold storages in the whole value system. The report also indicates that temperature-controlled warehouse cold chain market is expected to reach Rs 624 billion by 2017 with an approximate capacity of 46.6 million tonne. However, most equipment in use is outdated and single commodity based contributing to the below capacity utilisation of the stores.
Experts points out that multi-commodity cold stores especially in areas closer to consumption centres will be able to cater to different fruits & vegetables depending on the supply and demand and reduce food loss. These losses cost India both in terms of food inflation and lower export volumes. For example, while 11% of world’s total vegetables production is accounted by India, against share in global vegetable trade of 1.7%. However, this scenario stands to improve with government’s efforts in reviving this sector by encouraging increased investments by providing the sector with Infrastructure status and allowing 100 per cent FDI through the automatic route. Increasing collaboration with the private sector and backed by NABARDs fund infusion, modernisation of existing facilities is underway and establishment of new ventures via private and government partnerships are being considered.