Lamilux, the world’s leading manufacturer of fiber-reinforced composites, has been actively working for over six years in the Indian market to introduce the glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) technology for transporters and cold chain operators in the country. The company has had the first-mover advantage in the GRP field in India, though it has also taken a lot of patience and hard work from the company management, and Dr. Cosima-Klinger Paul, Managing Director, Lamilux India Private Ltd., in particular, who has been taking care of Indian operations from day one.
Despite the relatively slow progress in recent years, the Indian cold chain industry seems to be getting due attention from the new government at the Centre. The recent announcement of a new hotline for reefer trucks, which allows vehicles to pass through toll booths without much hassle, is just one of a string of initiatives in the right direction. Says Dr. Cosima: “There is growing focus on the cold chain industry from the new government at the Centre which is aggressively looking to develop the road infrastructure and also exploring the possibility of using railways for transporting perishable goods. The government has offered subsidies in the range of 35 to 50 per cent for the cold chain segment, which includes reefer trucks, and this reflects the emphasis laid on the particular industry which is quite encouraging.”
The government focus on the sector could not have come at a better time, considering the cold chain infrastructure in India is far from being developed, as indicated by some common practices in the sector. In some parts of the country, fish trucks with payload of nine tons carry only around three tons of fish with the remaining six tons occupied by ice in order to maintain the required temperature. The transport could be done far more efficiently with the help of properly insulated reefer trucks.
Another striking case which throws light on the loopholes of the country’s cold chain is the strawberry industry in the North East region. Despite availability of strawberry plants in Pune, some sellers in the North East source the plants by air from California to Kolkata so that the transport time by road is reduced. Such is the bottleneck in the cold chain infrastructure which desperately needs quite a lot of attention.
Expressing concern over the scenario, Dr. Cosima adds: “We currently have around 10,000 reefers in the Indian market. The reefer vehicle requirement in the North East region alone is around 2,000 units; so the pan-India requirement will be very much higher. Also, apart for the reefers, other parts of the cold chain infrastructure are also equally important. If we do not have enough cold storage warehouses, having just the reefers would not make much sense. Being very conservative, we could say that the reefer segment will grow by 15 to 20 per cent annually, but we need to support it with the necessary infrastructure.”
Doubling turnover
While the cold chain industry is getting some shape with forward-looking policies and reforms from the government, Lamilux’ Indian operations have been growing quite well. The company has doubled its annual revenue during the last few years as it continues to win over the confidence of an increasing number of customers in the market.
“We have been doubling our turnover year-on-year. Now that we have a warehouse in Delhi, many companies have started trying our products, with more confidence. Of course we will still need time to guide them with technical support and help them make good panels. But it is encouraging to see the development with many reefer builders looking at light-weight and corrosion-free bodies for which GRP is one of the best options. I am happy to be at the right place (India) at the right time, and I’m sure Lamilux will play a major role in the cold chain industry growth in India”, she says.
Having penetrated into the market well in half a decade, with a good number of customers including HLM, part of the TSI Group of Pune, Jindal Mectec from Gurgaon, Indicon, part of the Thapar Group, CEBBCO, JCBL, the Lloyds Group, Suraksha, ICE Make Refrigeration, Rinac and Automakers Body Indicon among others, reefer boxes made of Lamilux sheets can be found on vehicles of Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, VECV, Mahindra and Daimler.