Rourkela’s Cold Room Project
In Rourkela, India, the Cold Room Project provides solar-powered storage and women-led markets that reduce food waste, improve farmers’ earnings, and strengthen the local community
Rourkela’s Cold Room Project
In Rourkela, India, the Cold Room Project provides solar-powered storage and women-led markets that reduce food waste, improve farmers’ earnings, and strengthen the local community
These women are part of a Self Help Group and live in Rourkela, India. Home to 6,92,000 inhabitants, Rourkela is located in the state of Odisha, in eastern India, about 1,250 km (777 miles) southeast of New Delhi.
Rourkela is the third-largest city in the state of Odisha, with an economy strongly tied to agriculture and local trade. Its population includes both urban areas and rural communities.
Rourkela is the third-largest city in the state of Odisha, with an economy strongly tied to agriculture and local trade. Its population includes both urban areas and rural communities.
In Rourkela, women faced limited access to job opportunities and barriers to participating in community life.
Obstacles to Women’s
Community Engagement
Barriers to Women’s
Employment
At the same time, the entire community struggled with high temperatures and the absence of cold storage, which caused rapid spoilage of fruits and vegetables, forcing farmers and vendors to sell at low prices and threatening the sustainability of their livelihoods. These issues are characterized by:
Low access to bulk buyers
Limited access to large-scale purchasers.
Distress selling
Distress selling (20–40%
of vegetables sold below
market price).
shelf life
Perishable products
with 3–5 days of shelf life.
Faced with these challenges, the city government, in collaboration with the community, created a project using solar-powered cold storage units that operate in markets and are managed by women’s cooperatives. The cold rooms act as a center for many services:
1. Cold storage
Operated by women’s cooperatives, these facilities keep fruits and vegetables fresh for longer, thereby reducing waste and stabilizing farmers’ incomes.
2. Common Facility Centre sales (CFC)
In their cool bazaar shop, women sell organic and local products directly to customers, creating new income opportunities while ensuring access to quality food.
3. Bulk supply
Local women’s cooperatives coordinate sales to hotels, schools, and other large institutional buyers, thereby strengthening the connection between markets and these institutions.
4. Home delivery
Using electric rickshaws, cold rooms deliver fresh produce directly to households, expanding access to nutritious food while generating revenue.
Aerial view of a cold room in Rourkela, India
Located throughout the city, the five cold rooms form an interconnected ecosystem, each serving different farmers and consumers with a wide variety of products.
Beyond their geographical position, the cold rooms play an important role in connecting many actors within the community.
the ecosystem
How women’s cooperatives build networks and influence the community.
Women’s cooperatives manage the cold rooms, connecting farmers and producers with consumers and local organizations, while ensuring access to fresh food and strengthening community livelihoods.
Through this project, communities benefit from job creation, food waste reduction, gender inclusion, and improved access to fresh, nutritious food.
Who are the women involved?
At the heart of this ecosystem are women, with diverse backgrounds and many different faces that shape and maintain the cold room markets.
Age distribution by group
level of education
Number of women with dependents
* These data represent a group of 21 women who took part in the research survey.
beneficiaries
As a result of this new ecosystem, community members have seen significant improvements across multiple sectors, with beneficiaries divided into direct and indirect groups.
direct beneficiaries
TOTAL: 1,914 direct beneficiaries
*Cold room staff: EV driver, security guard, assistance and maintence staff.
indirect beneficiaries
TOTAL: 1,730 indirect beneficiaries
**Home deliveries customers: who have used the service in 6 months.
TOTAL: 3,644 beneficiaries
Considering organizations and individuals from the community
Women driving business and community forward
Through the cold room project, women gained financial independence, business skills, and greater recognition in their communities.
professional and collective advancements
of women reporting
income growth
Participating women’s cooperatives saw an increase from 207 USD (₹18,000) to 1,035 USD (₹90,000) monthly earnings
80% reporting over
20% income growth
96.2%
of women feeling empowered in financial decisions
“Prior to the installation of cold storage, I used to bring 200-300 kg of vegetables to the market. Since the cold storage was introduced, my production capacity has gradually increased to 500-600 kg”.
Gajamati Mahato
Farmer from VSS
Market, Rourkela
Total Revenue of the Five Cold Room Markets (Over 7 Months)
12.5%
Revenue increase over 6 months
USD 20,800
₹18,20,420
Total value of the last 7 months
Revenue variation and peak month by market (Over 7 Months)
The revenue variation provides a snapshot of a 6-month period. It is important to highlight
that each market needs to be analyzed individually, due to the different implementation
timelines and the consumption patterns each one serves within this ecosystem.
Fertilizer Cold Room
Ispat Haat Cold Room
Panposh Cold Room
Traffic Gate Cold Room
VSS Cold Room
Revenue variation and peak month by service (Over 7 Months)
The revenue distribution across services provides a snapshot of their performance over
the 6-month period. While some services generate higher income than others, it is essential
to highlight that each one plays a distinct role within the ecosystem and complements the other.
Cold room
Common facility centre
Bulk supply
Home delivery
Quality of life
Through the cold room project, women gained financial independence,
business skills, and greater recognition in their communities.
31%
reduction in food waste
1,373 total
of home deliveries since November 2024
improvement
the quality of life in the territory by promoting access to organic food and fostering direct and indirect jobs
“With the cold room in this market, I can now store surplus vegetables efficiently, significantly reducing spoilage and wastage. The stored vegetables remain fresh for more than a day, allowing me to sell them at the same price as on the first day”
Hiramani Jape, farmer from
Ispat Haat Market, Rourkela
These results contribuited to the following SDGs:
Also contributing to Goals:
An emerging ecosystem
A closer look reveals that the five cold room markets are part of a complex ecosystem that ensures the project’s resilience.
THE COLD ROOMS
Each cold room is operated by a women’s cooperative, and within the markets, they take on different roles and deal with different suppliers and consumers.
A Diverse Network of Vendors and farmers
The cold rooms have created new opportunities for local farmers and vendors, providing financial stability, encouraging new producers to enter the market, and empowering women who have embraced the business opportunity.
968
farmers
647
vendors
152
farmers and vendors
Common Facility Center products
Cool bazaar shops have become promoters of new income opportunities for women’s cooperatives, which, in the common facilities centers, sell additional products to the cold rooms.
This has supported a network of diverse producers, particularly women’s artisan cooperatives, who have found the bazaar shops the best places to sell their products.
Product Diversity by Market (Over 6 Months)
The product distribution shows how the five markets both complement and differ from each other.
The product variety in cool bazaar shops reflects local demand patterns: staples remain dominant, while seasonal items reveal shifting preferences. This diversity supports smarter supply planning and ensures that cold rooms stay responsive to community needs.
Most representative products
Number of cities that supply products per cold room
Common Facility Center sales
The growing integration of fresh and shelf-stable products has boosted supply and diversified local markets.
Most representative products (OVER SIX MONTHS)
Below is the top list of products sold in cool bazaar shops in the various markets.
Tracking top-selling products across common facility centers reveals consumption patterns and market dynamics, enabling efficient resource allocation, steady availability of popular items, and anticipation of demand shifts.
Best-selling products by market
- Traffic Gate CFC: Oil
- VSS CFC: Oil
- Panposh CFC: Sugar
- Fertilizer CFC:
Wheat Flour - Ispat Haat CFC: Cookies
Top-ranked products
bulk supply
Supplying diverse categories and local institutions secures cold room profitability while providing customers with healthy products at fair prices.
From Markets to Bulk Buyers (Over 6 Months)
Below are the different buyer categories that make up the market ecosystem.
Product variety in cold rooms reflects local demand: staples dominate, and seasonal items show changing preferences. This diversity enables smarter supply planning and aligns with community needs.
137
Bulk buyers registered
Cold rooms link institutional and commercial buyers, highlighting the scale and diversity of bulk demand.
Main Sources
of Bulk Supply
home deliveries
The home delivery service not only increases the number of shoppers who can benefit from the products of the cold rooms and common facility centers without traveling to the markets in person, but also helps make procurement sustainable by reducing CO2 emissions in the city.
Delivering Fresh Food Across the Community (Over 6 Months)
Below is the relationship between revenue and accumulated distance (in km) over six months.
On average, cold rooms handled 229 deliveries per month, with each market averaging about 275 deliveries over six months. These figures show the scale and consistency of the delivery system, providing a baseline to compare market performance and identify areas with higher or lower demand.
Challenges for the future
The project has generated key lessons, revealed challenges ahead, and opened opportunities for growth.
Lessons learned
- Strategic location drives success.
- Extra services sustain revenue.
- Diversifying product offerings across different markets increases overall productivity.
- Training women builds their independence and empowerment.
Challenges
- Keep the five markets connected.
- Maintain a complete view of suppliers and buyers.
- Attract new customers.
- Continue skill development and build confidence.
Opportunities
- Expanding partnerships with other institutions.
- Scaling towards new potential markets.
- Developing new market activities (e.g., kiosks selling fresh drinks and snacks) by women’s cooperatives.
- Strengthening the ecosystem approach.
The Rourkela Cold Room Project empowered women to become business owners, leading cooperatives that managed storage facilities, sales points, and distribution networks. The cold rooms became places where the community strengthened their connections and supported the region.
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