UK university tie-up results in new cold chain centre in Telangana By Aditi Khanna

London: A new initiative in partnership with the University of Birmingham to promote sustainable cooling innovation and accelerate the deployment of energy-efficient refrigeration for food and vaccine supply chains across India has been launched in Telangana on Wednesday. The Telangana Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-Chain is a joint project between the Telangana State Trade Promotion Corporation, government of Telangana, Centre for Sustainable Cooling (CSC) at Birmingham University, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the GMR Group.

The UK university will serve as the knowledge partner and help develop the centre into a state-of-the-art research and innovation hub to deploy needs-driven and equitable system-level cooling and cold-chain solutions in Telangana and also across India. “The centre will have a strong technology and renewable energy underpinning; it will take a systems approach focusing on non-technological and behavioural issues as well, recognising that technologies need to be financeable, integrated into processes and be accepted by end users, while some solutions can be achieved through changes or adaptations to operational practices," said Professor Toby Peters, CSC Director at Birmingham University.

The centre was opened by Telangana Minister for IT and Industries KT Rama Rao at the GMR Innovex Campus near GMR Airport, Hyderabad. “The Centre of Excellence is a first of its kind initiative in India. It will have state-of-the-art equipment and will serve as a one-stop solution to address all challenges around the cold chain ecosystem in the country. It will develop and demonstrate cooling technologies and solutions that meet the state's needs and could be scaled up with global reach," said Rao. The centre is the outcome of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the government of Telangana and the University of Birmingham last year.

British Deputy High Commissioner Gareth Wynn Owen noted: “This is a shining example of collaboration between the UK and India and I am delighted that Hyderabad is hosting this Center of Excellence. “Global food security is a priority for the UK and this Centre will play a key role in reducing food waste, increasing sustainable agriculture and supporting rural livelihoods.” The Centre of Excellence will have a solutions development lab and demonstration centre, a model pack-house and community cooling hubs. It is expected to have a significant impact on the lives of farmers in Telangana. Currently, many farmers are unable to sell their perishable produce because they do not have access to cold storage facilities.

“The Telangana Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling is a significant step forward in improving food and health security and boosting exports. The centre's work will help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce food losses, enhance farmers income and promote sustainable development,” said Telangana Principal Secretary Jayesh Ranjan. “As the demand for temperature sensitive goods continues to grow, this Centre of Excellence will facilitate and aid the accelerated deployment of a needs-driven and sustainable (environmentally, economically and socially) cold chain solution in the state of Telangana and wider India. "This facility is a step in the right direction in our effort to cater to the needs of various sectors in a sustainable manner and will be a real game changer that will support the trade and farming community,” added S G K Kishore of the GMR Group.

The centre is expected to come up with solutions that will help farmers preserve perishable produce and improved quality of goods. Adopting a "hub and spoke" model, the Centre of Excellence will deliver upskilling and training programmes for farmers and local agri-businesses, agri start-ups and entrepreneurs, equipment technicians and researchers. Telangana exports an estimated USD 4 billion worth of pharma and vaccine products, which are dependent on an efficient cold chain ecosystem. The state hopes the new centre will focus on new and sustainable technologies for vaccine and pharma cold chain and will contribute to the further growth of vaccine exports from the state.