Introduction

In 2021, the Indian cold chain logistics market was worth $16 million. By 2027, the industry is forecasted to reach a revenue of $36 million. Growing demand for processed food products, the rapid rise of the retail and e-commerce industry and the growth of the organised food retail sector are driving this industry.

Currently, India is the largest producer of milk and the second-largest producer of fruits and vegetables.

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However, considerable factors affect the country’s cold chain market, slowing the growth of the sector and leading to losses in the medical and food-processing industries. Here’s where Celcius Logistics, A Mumbai-based cold-chain start-up, rose to the challenge by launching its Vahan Vikas Yojana (VYY) scheme. This blog presents an overview of this initiative and explains why this scheme is at the forefront of improving the country’s cold chain market by leaps and bounds in the years to come.

Vahan Vikas Yojana - An Overview

VYY is an industry-first corporate initiative that helps new entrants, including the asset owners for transport/warehouse, to enter the cold supply chain sector. This initiative enables penetration into newer markets easier and quicker.

Salient Features of Vahan Vikas Yojana

Financial aid:
Celcius provides the vehicle owners with a monthly Minimum Guarantee revenue that is equal to the vehicle’s EMI.

Advanced technology for goods tracking:
This scheme will equip the vehicles with the latest Internet of Things (IoT) devices with TMS integration for LIVE monitoring

Exclusive access:
All members who have enrolled in this scheme will have proprietary access to the Celcius platform, thus improving their scope of operations and helping them network with other players.

“With the VahanVikasYojana Scheme, we aim to build a network of reefer trucks, as part of our larger mission to build an unbroken cold supply chain in the country. And, we realise that this is not possible without empowering the transporters, especially the smaller truck drivers and owners, who form the backbone of our logistics network. Additionally, we aim to also create a new class of transporters who can keep growing while being associated with Celcius.”

Mr. Swarup Bose,
Founder and CEO, Celcius Logistics

Vahan Vikas Yojana - The Origins

It is estimated that India currently incurs food losses worth about $14bn due to inefficiencies in the cold supply chain, especially last-mile deliveries.

The prominent challenges are:

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  • Lapses in maintaining optimum temperature
  • Using non-refrigerated vehicles for transit
  • Unavailability of tracking and tracing technology to monitor the distribution of goods
  • Lack of smaller reefer vehicles
  • Employment of untrained drivers and delivery agents

Furthermore, shippers incur heavy revenue losses owing to systemic gaps in the cold chain., impacting sales and customer loyalty tremendously. The suppliers are unable to collaborate with local storage space owners and transporters, thus hindering market penetration. This is why Celcius took the initiative of providing shippers/storage owners with the necessary facilities to upgrade their technology via VYY.

Vahan Vikas Yojana - The Benefits

This scheme offers three-fold benefits:

Network Access:
It gives smaller transporter and warehouse owners an opportunity to engage with large corporations. This access will help the local players adapt to modern practices and technologies faster, thus escalating industry growth pan India.

Financial benefit:
It helps the existing asset owners to increase return on investment on their vehicles and infrastructure through continuous sales, and greater business opportunities within local geographies.

The emergence of newer players:
It helps new asset owners from smaller towns and cities to join the industry by having them invest in Vahan Vikas Samriddhi. More service providers enable the shippers to expand their footprint into markets that were not conducive to service earlier.

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To Conclude

In a country where 17% of the population goes to bed hungry, Celcius, a cold chain logistics company in India, is ushering a ground-breaking change in last-mile deliveries with more reefer vehicles and local players. The organisation’s VYY scheme holds the potential could position itself to be the game changer the industry has been waiting for.