Bhubaneswar, Dec. 3 -- The Odisha government has set an ambitious target to construct 58 cold storage units at the sub-division level, with a budget allocation of Rs 252 crore, aimed at improving the state's capacity to store perishable goods and reduce post-harvest losses.

Replying to a question in the State Assembly, Public Works Department Prithiviraj Harichandan stated that Odisha currently has 133 cold storage units, of which only 35 are fully functional. Out of these, 33 are privately operated and 2 are government-run, reflecting a significant gap between existing infrastructure and operational capacity.

The Minister highlighted that over the past decade, 26 new cold storages have been built, but 22 are functional while 4 remain n...