From frozen foods to Q-commerce, new demand is pushing India’s cold chain toward a USD 74.5 billion market by 2033.
India's cold chain industry is experiencing a transformative shift, expanding far beyond its traditional pharmaceutical stronghold into diverse sectors that are reshaping the country's logistics landscape. While pharmaceuticals have long dominated the temperature-controlled logistics conversation, a new narrative is emerging, one driven by frozen foods, dairy products, fresh produce, and the explosive growth of quick commerce.
Kartik Jalan, Founder & CEO of Indicold, an Indian company providing end-to-end, technology-enabled cold supply chain and warehouse logistics services for industries like food and pharmaceuticals, mentions: “At Indicold, we see India’s cold-chain demand growing rapidly beyond pharmaceuticals, driven by frozen foods, dairy, fresh produce, and quick-service restaurant (QSR) supply. As per the latest research estimates, India’s cold-chain market stood at USD 28.5 billion (INR 2,512 billion) in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 74.5 billion (INR 6,562 billion) by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 10.9%. Within this, the cold-chain logistics segment is expected to expand from USD 10.5 billion (INR 925 billion) in 2024 to USD 31.7 billion (INR 2,800 billion) by 2033, remaining a significant but smaller portion of the overall market.”
He says, “This growth reflects evolving consumer lifestyles, rising e-grocery penetration, and the urgent need to reduce food loss while ensuring quality and sustainability. Indicold remains committed to building resilient, future-ready solutions that enable this transformation.”
Frozen foods and quick commerce: reshaping India’s cold chain
Perhaps no segment illustrates this transformation better than frozen foods. According to data by IMARC Group, the Indian frozen foods market reached INR 191 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow to INR 593 billion by 2033, registering a CAGR of 13.4% between 2025 and 2033. This growth is driven by rapid urbanisation, rising demand for ready-to-eat foods, improvements in cold-chain infrastructure, and evolving dietary preferences across urban centres.
This explosive growth is also fundamentally altering cold chain requirements, demanding more sophisticated storage solutions and faster distribution networks.
Sanjay Sharma, CEO of Coldman, observes this trend firsthand: “For Coldman, the strongest growth is coming from frozen foods, followed by dairy and fresh produce. Frozen foods, like processed ready-to-eat items and ice creams, have been consistent demand drivers, particularly with the rise of modern retail and online grocery. QSR and Ready-to-Eat (RTE) are the fastest-growing categories for us, since they require reliable, decentralised cold storage and efficient last-mile transport. Dairy and fresh produce remain core categories, with steady demand from both organised retail and foodservice chains. While we do handle seafood and meat, their contribution is relatively smaller compared to frozen foods and dairy, which are currently shaping the bulk of our non-pharma cold chain growth.”
“Quick commerce and frozen food are fundamentally reshaping India’s cold chain dynamics.”
Kartik Jalan, Indicold
Jalan says, Quick commerce is racing ahead, with a gross order value of USD 7.4 billion (INR 652.8 billion) in FY 2024–25, expected to reach USD 18–20 billion (INR 1,587.4–1,763.8 billion) by 2027.”
Quick commerce and frozen food are fundamentally reshaping India’s cold chain dynamics. Consumers now expect variety, quality, and doorstep delivery within minutes, not days. This growth demands agile, distributed cold-chain infrastructure, smaller urban hubs, faster last-mile, and uncompromising temperature integrity. At Indicold, we see this as an opportunity to build a cold chain where convenience, freshness, and trust move together.”
Beyond food: diversification across sectors
While food categories dominate the non-pharmaceutical cold chain expansion, the diversification extends across multiple sectors. Dairy products continue to form a substantial portion of cold chain volumes, supported by India's position as the world's largest milk producer. Fresh produce, fruits, and vegetables require increasingly sophisticated cold chain solutions as organised retail expands and export markets grow.
The organised retail sector's expansion provides crucial context for this growth. India’s organised retail sector is expanding rapidly. It is projected to reach USD 230 billion (INR 20,292.7 billion) by 2030, according to data from IBEF. This shift toward organised retail creates demand for reliable, scalable cold chain solutions that can maintain product integrity from source to shelf.
Sharma from Coldman explains their diversification strategy: “Coldman currently operates in 12 cities with 20+ warehouses, offering a cumulative capacity of over 85,000 pallets. Our operations are predominantly focused on processed food and agri-commodities, which form the bulk of our storage portfolio. Pharma accounts for about 4% of our total revenue today, but it remains an emerging growth segment where we see increasing opportunities.”
Operational complexities: pharma vs. food
The operational requirements for non-pharmaceutical cold chains present unique challenges compared to pharmaceuticals. While pharmaceutical logistics demands absolute precision with narrow temperature ranges and stringent compliance, food logistics operates under different pressures.
“India is gradually moving toward integrated end-to-end cold chain solutions, but the market will likely remain a hybrid for the near term.”
Sanjay Sharma, Coldman
“Pharmaceuticals demand absolute precision, narrow temperature ranges, validated equipment, continuous monitoring, and compliance with stringent global standards. Even the smallest deviation can render products unusable,” explains Jalan. “Perishable food, by contrast, moves in larger, more variable volumes, across multiple distribution points, and under strong cost and time pressures. Here, the challenge is ensuring freshness and quality while keeping operations efficient. While pharma is about strict control, food is about scale, speed, and flexibility, and Indicold is committed to delivering on both with equal reliability.”
This distinction has significant implications for infrastructure development, technology deployment, and operational processes. Food cold chains must balance cost efficiency with quality maintenance, often handling diverse product categories with varying temperature requirements within the same facility.
Infrastructure challenges and solutions
Despite strong growth prospects, India’s cold chain infrastructure faces persistent challenges, with crores lost annually due to disruptions that affect the distribution of vital medicines and vaccines. Lack of last-mile connectivity is a persistent issue, with over 100,000 villages lacking access to reliable cold chain logistics.
Swarup Bose, Founder & CEO of Celcius Logistics Solutions, explained that the challenges in handling pharmaceuticals and perishables can be viewed in three parts: demand side, supply side, and Celcius’ own perspective.
On the demand side, there is a significant shortage of infrastructure, insufficient vehicles, cold storage, and touchpoints. Expansion into smaller cities is particularly difficult because they often lack even basic cold chain facilities. For example, an ice cream brand cannot enter new markets if it has no way to store or distribute its products locally. Visibility is another major issue for shippers. On the supply side, service providers often lack visibility of opportunities beyond their core sector. A dairy logistics operator, for instance, may not be aware of demand in pharma, and vice versa. This mismatch results in demand not meeting supply, and supply not reaching demand.
Bose noted that Celcius has been working to bridge this gap by mapping both demand and supply. However, a key challenge has been getting supply partners to adopt technology and become fully tech-enabled.
“The challenge of building an efficient cold chain for perishables in India isn’t just storage, first-mile, last-mile, or infrastructure; it’s how these gaps come together. Farmers struggle to move produce quickly, retailers need reliable deliveries, and consumers expect the freshness they can trust. But the deeper barrier is mindset: cold chain is still seen as a cost. It safeguards livelihoods, reduces food loss, supports communities, and lessens the burden on our environment. At Indicold, we believe in shifting the narrative from expense to value creation, because when the chain works, it connects the farmer to family and strengthens both society and sustainability,” says Jalan.
“Our freighter operation out of India is closely mapped to connect all the high-demand pharma routes.”
Claudius Pereira, Oman Air Cargo
The challenges extend beyond mere infrastructure gaps to encompass power reliability, first-mile collection inefficiencies, and fragmented operations. However, industry leaders are developing innovative solutions to address these challenges.
“Ensuring temperature integrity in regions with poor infrastructure or power shortages is always a challenge. At Indicold, we focus on reliability through insulated facilities, reefer vehicles, backup power, and disciplined processes on the ground. Transparency comes from real-time monitoring and open communication with our teams and partners, ensuring everyone is aligned when disruptions occur. And where gaps persist, we rely on innovation, from smarter route planning to practical solutions that suit local realities. By combining dependable operations, strong collaboration with our partners, and continuous improvement, we’re able to keep food safe and fresh, even in the toughest conditions,” says Jalan.
Government support and policy framework
Government initiatives are providing crucial support for cold chain expansion beyond pharmaceuticals. According to Government of India data, the PM Kisan SAMPADA Yojana is expected to attract investments of USD 1.26 billion (INR 111 billion), benefit 2.85 million farmers, and generate over half a million direct and indirect jobs across the country by 2025–26.
“Government schemes like PM-Kisan SAMPADA, the Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure Scheme, and Mega Food Parks are fueling infrastructure growth with subsidies and public-private partnerships,” says Sharma. These schemes are particularly important for addressing first-mile challenges in agricultural produce logistics, helping bridge the gap between farmers and organised cold chain networks.
Global aviation perspective
The expansion beyond pharmaceuticals is also evident in aviation cold chain services. Claudius Pereira, Senior Manager, Cargo Commercial Operations, Oman Air Cargo, observes, “We have seen a remarkable transformation in the Indian cold chain market. Once a fragmented market dominated by small regional players, it has developed to have an organised and consolidated approach to cold chain solutions with an emphasis on product quality in line with international standards.”
Oman Air Cargo has adapted its operations to serve this diversifying market. Oman Air has scheduled services to and from major pharma destinations in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. “Our freighter operation out of India is closely mapped to connect all the high-demand pharma routes, and our hub in Muscat offers seamless connections with minimum connection times, which can be as low as 90 minutes,” explains Pereira. The company has evolved its capacity utilisation strategy, noting: “Oman Air Cargo has agreements with a variety of carriers to access markets and capacity that it doesn’t have easy access to. The B757F capacity is being used to access the Indian market, transporting pharma and perishables as well as other forms of cargo, while Oman Air has interline service from Australia to Asian gateways for perishables as well as ex Japan, Korea, and China.”
“Muscat Cargo Terminal is a state-of-the-art cargo facility and is certified for GDP & International Air Transport Association (IATA) CEIV Pharma & Fresh. It offers both ULD and bulk storage with temperature ranges from -20C to +25C, combined with our young and modern fleet of B787 & B737 MAX, operating our passenger network, provides quality cold chain services across our network,” he adds.
Future trajectory: bridging global standards with local innovation
As the market matures, a key question emerges: will India move toward integrated end-to-end cold chain solutions, or will specialised services continue to dominate specific niches? Sharma from Coldman provides insights: “India is gradually moving toward integrated end-to-end cold chain solutions, but the market will likely remain a hybrid for the near term. Large food and pharma players increasingly prefer single-point service providers who can manage storage, transport, and last-mile delivery under one umbrella. This helps with quality assurance, cost efficiency, and visibility. That’s where integrated models are gaining traction. At the same time, certain categories like seafood exports, meat, or premium perishables often require specialised handling and niche expertise, where standalone service providers will continue to thrive.”
When benchmarked against global standards, India's cold chain landscape presents both challenges and unique opportunities. “Globally, regions like the US and EU have highly integrated, tech-enabled cold chains with robust farm-to-retail traceability. In India, challenges remain; fragmented first-mile collection, uneven storage capacity, and power reliability are still pressing gaps. Yet, the pace of growth is undeniable,” says Jalan.
The company emphasises India's distinctive position: “What sets India apart is its scale and urgency. At Indicold, we’ve pioneered India’s first Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS) high-bay warehouse in 2024 and the country’s first 4-way shuttle system in 2025, proving that innovation can leapfrog limitations.”