Bhubaneswar, December 3: The State Government on Wednesday disclosed in the Assembly that out of the 133 cold storages in the State, as many as 98 cold storages are lying defunct.
“Out of 133 cold storages, 35 cold storages are functional in Odisha now. In the last 10 years, 26 cold storages have been set up in the State out of which 22 are operating,” Works Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan informed the House on behalf of Deputy Chief Minister and Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment Minister KV Singh Deo.
“Currently, 35 cold storages are operating in the State with a capacity of 1,72,180 MT. Out of the 35 functional cold storages, 33 are being managed by private agencies. Out of the 98 defunct cold storages, 78 units are managed by private players,” the Minister informed the House in response to a query of Congress Legislature Party leader Ramachandra Kadam and other members.
The Minister also told the House that the State Government has set a target to establish 58 cold storages in sub-division levels and Rs 252 crore budgetary allocations has already made for the purpose.
The Minister further informed the House that applications for setting up of 15 new cold storages have been received by Government.
“Proposals for 15 new cold storages were received by the State Government. Permission has been given to five units,” informed the Minister.
During the current fiscal, 239 solar cold storage rooms will be opened in the State, the Minister told the House.
