Hyderabad, Aug 9 : IT and Industries Minister K. T. Rama Rao on Wednesday inaugurated the Centre of Excellence at GMR Innovex Campus near GMR Airport which will promote food and health security, empower farmers and boost exports. The Centre of Excellence is a novel initiative for promoting sustainable cooling innovation and accelerating the deployment of energy-efficient refrigeration for food and vaccine supply chains across India. The CoE is a joint initiative between Telangana State Trade Promotion Corporation, which is a Telangana government body, Centre for Sustainable Cooling (CSC), University of Birmingham, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the GMR Group. It is the outcome of an MoU signed between Government of Telangana and University of Birmingham in 2022. University of Birmingham will serve as the knowledge partners and will help develop the centre into a state-of-the-art research and innovation hub that will help deploy needs-driven and equitable system-level cooling and cold-chain solutions in the country. The Centre of Excellence will have a solutions development lab and demonstration centre, a model pack-house and community cooling hubs. It is expected to have a significant impact on the lives of farmers in Telangana. Currently, many farmers are unable to sell their perishable produce because they do not have access to cold storage facilities. The Centre will come up with solutions that will help farmers preserve perishable produce and improved quality of goods. Adopting a 'hub and spoke' model, the CoE will deliver upskilling and training programmes for farmers and local agri-businesses, agri-start-ups and entrepreneurs, equipment technicians and researchers. Telangana currently exports $4 Billion worth Pharma and Vaccine Exports which are dependent on an efficient cold chain ecosystem. The center will also focus on new and sustainable technologies for vaccine and pharma cold chain and will contribute to the further growth of vaccine exports from the state. Minister KTR noted that the CoE is a first of its kind initiative in India. It will have state of the art equipment and will serve as a one stop solution to address all challenges around the cold chain ecosystem in the country. It will develop and demonstrate cooling technologies and solutions that meet the state's needs and could be scaled up with global reach. The centre was inaugurated in the presence of Gareth Owens, British Deputy High Commissioner in Hyderabad, Professor Toby Peters, Director, Centre of Sustainable Cooling, University of Birmingham, M Bikshapathi, Chairman, TSTPC, Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary (IT and Industries), Dr. E. Vishnu Reddy, Special Secretary (Investment Promotion) and JDM, TSPTC, SKG Kishore, Executive Director, GHIAL, Mr Jimmy Washington, Director Sustainability, Carrier Group and other senior officials and industry representatives. Jayesh Ranjan said that the Centre's work will help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce food losses, enhance farmers income and promote sustainable development. /IANS