CONCOR's cold chain memorandum is the visible end of a four-year technology build

A memorandum with an export authority shows a capability looking for volume.

CONCOR signed a memorandum of understanding with APEDA in New Delhi on 17 September to build an export-oriented cold chain ecosystem for agricultural and processed food exports. Separately reported in the same period: a first reefer express from Kanpur to Mundra, a rail pact with PSA India, and a network of 55 warehouses with cold chain facilities.

The MoU is the visible end of a build that started four years ago. Across five annual reports, CONCOR's Ice Battery technology appears not at all in FY2022, once in FY2023, five times in FY2024, twelve in FY2025 and fourteen in FY2026. The specification is fifty hours between 2 and 25 degrees with no external power and no diesel. The first cargo moved in a CONCOR-owned Ice Battery train in September 2025. The Rake Monitoring Portal launched in June 2025 and the first cabotage service ran in July 2025.

CONCOR reefer containers hold 2 to 25 degrees for about fifty hours with no external power

Ice Battery is a passive thermal storage system fitted into 20 and 40 foot reefer containers. It keeps the container at a temperature between 2 and 25 degrees for about fifty hours without external power or diesel.

It charges the phase change medium while connected to power and releases the stored energy when the load absorbs heat during transit. Without compressor cycling, there are no moving parts to fail, no fuel to carry, and no genset noise or emissions at the terminal.

The first cargo to be transported in a company-owned Ice Battery container train took place in September 2025.

The limitation is not the container but the land around it: 45 power packs and 150 plug points. Fifty hours show what the technology can do, and the plug point map shows where it can operate.

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Under Parvatmala Pariyojana roughly sixty kilometres were prioritised for award, and eight sites are now awarded or under implementation including Varanasi, Ujjain, Prayagraj, Sonprayag to Kedarnath and Govind Ghat to Hemkund Sahib. Bids are in at two more and the Cabinet has approved two further projects of 12.4 and 12.9 kilometres. The contract shape is development, operation and maintenance in one package, so the winner is an operator who builds, not a contractor who hands over.

If you supply this equipment and are not registered with the National Highways Authority of India, that is this week's task.

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CONCOR's cold chain memorandum is the visible end of a four-year technology build

There were three announcements made within a fortnight. On 17 September CONCOR entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority in New Delhi for the purpose of setting up an export-oriented cold chain ecosystem. It operated its first reefer express from Kanpur to Mundra and also reached an agreement with PSA India by rail. Considered on their own, these developments appear to be a surge in commercial activity.

The stories in the annual reports are different. The cold chain technology known as Ice Battery, which keeps the temperature between 2 and 25 degrees within a 20 or 40 foot reefer container for around 50 hours without the need for external power or diesel, is not mentioned in the FY2022 report, but it is included once in the FY2023 report, five times in the FY2024 report, twelve times in the FY2025 report and fourteen times in the FY2026 report. The first shipment to move by train in company-owned Ice Battery containers took place in September 2025. The Rake Monitoring Portal, which provides real-time geospatial visibility of rakes throughout India, became operational in June 2025. The first cabotage rail service ran from Mundra to Dadri on 20 July 2025. A network of 55 warehouses now provides cold chain facilities.

The capability existed before the signature and the memorandum signifies the point at which an effort was made to increase its volume. That is the point of view that is useful to an exporter.