This Purdue and IIT Kharagpur alumnus has won the Union government’s Prajjwala Challenge for a unique cold storage model he has created to help Indian farmers. He talks to Village Square about the innovation.
India is one of the world’s largest producers of fruit and vegetables. However, a sizeable amount of this produce goes to seed because of storage uncertainties. Factors like increased operating costs of cold storage, challenges in adopting new technologies and equipment failure are to be blamed for this.
This is where a novel innovation by Vishal Singhal of Temperate Technologies could be a game changer. Singhal, who holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering from Purdue University and a BTech degree from IIT Kharagpur, returned to India from Silicon Valley and founded his company in 2017. He has a total experience of 23 years in cooling technologies and nine years in Silicon Valley start-ups bringing innovative research to the market.
“Upon returning from abroad I wanted to do something meaningful in India. I explored various avenues before realising that Indian farmers require a cold-storage solution,” Singhal said on the phone from Hyderabad, the headquarters of his operations. He holds the designation of CEO at Temperate Technologies, and recently emerged as one of the five winners of the Union government’s Prajjwala Challenge.
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The solution in question is called ColdEasy, a low-power and cost-effective cold storage solution that can convert any room into a cold room. Produce stored in a ColdEasy chamber has an increased shelf-life by 3 to 5 times and suffers from less weight loss up to 70 percent. Multiple commodities can be stored in the same chamber.
The product consumes just four units of power per day and can cool up to 2,000 kg of fruit and vegetables. There is no chance of chilling injury to the crop harvested, and there is no condensation of droplets when the produce is taken out. This helps reduce food waste, increase farmer incomes, and ensure better food security. It also reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
“ColdEasy can also be used off the grid, and we have tested this product successfully in Telangana, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Karnataka,” said Singhal.
Temperate Technologies is now looking to develop a long-term onion storage solution to reduce volatility in onion prices, which are lowest after the Rabi harvest in April-May, and highest before the Kharif harvest in October-November.
The venture has received support from both government and private organisations. Government initiatives such as the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), Nidhi Prayas and MeitY TIDE 2.0 have given Singhal’s brainchild aid, while Selco Foundation, Climate Collective Foundation and Social Alpha have lent him support from the private sector.
“There were many challenges,” admitted Singhal about the venture. “Our approach to cold storage was a new idea and unproven when we started. The technology we are using was also new and had not been implemented at scale. It took many years to develop the technology and then to prove its suitability for cold storage,” he added.
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The hard work has paid off. Recognition has come in the form of awards too with the venture receiving the EDF Pulse India award, CITI Social Innovation award, IEEMA Electraverse Sparks award, CatalyseTech Energy for Cooling award and the PATH Climate x Health award.
“Now we are hoping to scale our solution and reach every part of the country in partnership with the Ministry of Rural Development under the DAY-NRLM scheme,” said Singhal of his next move.
This is the fourth write-up in a series of articles featuring the winners of the Prajjwala Challenge, an initiative launched by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) to look for ideas and solutions around innovative technologies, inclusive growth and enhanced women entrepreneurship, among others. It has been crafted by MoRD, with Transform Rural India (TRI) as a programme partner. The story is being published to highlight use of science and technology-based social impact innovation and solutions in India under Manthan, an initiative led by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser, Government of India.
The lead image shows a cold room of the ColdEasy cooling solution (picture courtesy Temperate Technologies)
Smriti Mukerji is a journalist turned freelance writer based out of New Delhi.
