In mid-August every year, as Himachal Pradesh’s apple harvest peaks, trucks begin lining up outside Adani Agri Fresh’s controlled-atmosphere storage facilities in Rohru in Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh. Farmers arrive with blue crates stacked high with apples, hoping to secure a slot before the warehouses fill up.

Inside, the fruits enter a near-hibernation state. Oxygen levels are lowered, temperatures hover around freezing, and the nearly 25,000 metric tonnes of apples can remain fresh for up to 10 months before being released back into the........

© The Ken