The Prime Minister said the government will first start with setting up two cold storage facilities on a pilot basis. He said that only if it proves successful, the government will add more facilities in the country.
The facilities will store the surplus vegetables and fruits in the peak season and make it available in the market during the dry season. The government decided to build only two cold storage for now considering the concern the government has regarding its proper usage.
Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering said it has become a trend for people to blame every government regarding the export of surplus potatoes during the peak season and importing the same at a higher price during the off-seasons because of the lack of cold storage facilities in the country. “We did research on it. A kg of potato is like Nu 23 during the season. After it is kept in the cold storage for 4 to 5 months, a kg of potato will become Nu 45 in winter. But if we import potatoes from India, we can buy it for around Nu 20. So after putting it in the cold storage and selling it, if the public starts saying that the potato is expensive and starts to buy from India because it is cheaper, then where are we going to take the potatoes we have. These are some of the concerns we came up during the research,” Lyonchhen said.
While vegetables like potato might run in the loss, Lyonchhen said that apple, however, has a good potential in a market even after being stored in cold storage.
Starting with two facilities in the beginning, the government plans to build more if the trial is successful.
“We will have two cold storage facilities with 250 to 300 metric tonnes capacity. We are going to have multi-chamber in it regulated with a system of moisture and temperature for different types of produce. So if this works, we will build in other areas too,” Lyonchhen added.
The estimated cost to build two cold storage facilities is expected to come around Nu 17 M to 20 M.
Samten Dolkar
