DPIIT is working with the Asian Development Bank on grading standards for warehouses and cold-chain facilities.
India is developing a grading and rating standards benchmark for warehouses and cold-chain facilities with the Asian Development Bank. Pankaj Kumar, Joint Secretary at the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), disclosed this at the third Logistics, Warehousing and Cold Chain Summit organised by FICCI on September 29, 2026. He said the government had yet to decide who should regulate the ratings. The options include a government body or self-regulation by industry associations. Kumar said graded facilities could gain easier access to incentives and credit.
The rating exercise follows two sets of warehouse standards and guidelines that DPIIT released recently. The department is also working with states to bring warehousing and cold chains into state logistics policies. It is helping them prepare city logistics plans that cover warehouses, dark stores and cold storage.
Kumar said the logistics division of DPIIT is also drafting guidelines for multimodal logistics parks (MMLPs). He said warehousing and cold chains take up about 70 per cent of the area in these parks.
Source: Business Standard
