Fruits and Vegetables (F&V) is a very growing sector and constitutes around 90% of
horticultural produce in India. Production of horticultural crops in India has increased as
compared to the situation a couple of decades ago. Several factors like globalization,
increasing urbanization, nuclear families, working women, disposable income, changing
lifestyles and rise of organized retails are gearing up the Indian fruits and vegetables supply
chains for a better future. Supply chain plays a very vital role in this sector. This area
becomes even more important because of perishability and very short shelf life. Supply
Chain Management (SCM) not only helps to cut costs, but also adds to maintain and
improve the quality of produce delivered, which are perishable in nature. India, the world’s
second largest fruits and vegetables producer, is also one of the biggest wasters in the world,
wasting 2 lakh cr worth of fruits and vegetables every year (ASSOCHAM, 2013). Owing
to the very short shelf life and perishability, these items require proper transportation,
handling and storage facilities in order to reach the customer in fresh state. Here, cold
supply chain plays a very vital role in fulfilling the demand of the customer. Though India
is an agrarian economy, it also faces various challenges in terms of infrastructure for fresh
business. The infrastructure (road network, transportation, facilities, storage areas, etc.)
has been a major barrier in the growth of agriculture sector. The cold chain infrastructure