World Bank subsidiary to invest Tk54cr to build cold storages in Bangladesh
Fleet of refrigerated trailers is expected to stop use of preservative chemicals
Cold Chain Bangladesh Limited is set to introduce cold storage chain in Bangladesh for the first time aiming at preservation and transportation of frozen food and highly perishable agro products.
The Cold Chain has been established by two associates of the Golden Harvest Agro Industries. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a sister organisation of the World Bank and a member of the World Bank Group, will invest nearly Tk54.68 crore to the company.
This price sensitive information hyped up the Golden Harvest Agro share on Thursday at the Dhaka Stock Exchange.
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Primarily, cold storages will be set up at 12 places in the country with a dedicated fleet of refrigerated trailers. Those refrigerated trailers will carry highly perishable food items to and from the warehouses.
Other companies will be able to store and transport their products, including medicines, frozen fish, meat, fruits and bakery items using the facility paying at a fixed rate.
Building the cold storage chain in the country will cost Tk182 crore. The IFC will invest Tk54.68 crore under the IFC Infraventure Project, while the rest of the amount, Tk127.68 crore, will come from the Golden Harvest.
An agreement in this regard has been signed recently. The Golden Harvest inked the primary deal with the IFC in May 2018 and then formed the Cold Storage Chain Bangladesh Limited.
Company Secretary of the Golden Harvest Agro Limited Nirmal Chandra Sardar told The Business Standard that preservation of high perishable agro products will achieve a huge success once the Cold Chain begins operation.
"Agro products and food items are being preserved by chemicals as the existing cold storage facility in the country is inadequate. Once we begin the operation, this harmful tendency will certainly drop," he added.
Meantime, Director General of the Golden Harvest Mohammad Shahidullah said they will begin their commercial operation soon.
The Golden Harvest Ice Cream is a subsidiary of the Golden Harvest Agro. The Golden Harvest Food is one of the associates of the Golden Harvest Agro Industries.
On the other hand, the IFC Infraventure provides support for infrastructural development to food supply chains in developing countries.
The Golden Harvest Agro share price increased by 9.73 percent on Thursday and was traded at Tk28.20 at the end of the DSE session. They posted 10 percent stock dividend to the shareholders in 2017-18 fiscal year.
