Reefer container price in India

Cold storage container: which reefer for which job?

• 20 ft or 40 ft? The 40 ft high cube reefer holds 67.5 m³, or 23 Euro pallets on its floor, and the 20 ft one 28.2 m³, or 10; the same models of refrigeration unit are fitted to both. Compare their prices this week, from ₹5,50,000 for the 40 ft and from ₹6,50,000 for the 20 ft, before you settle for the smaller box. The 40 ft one needs a 40 ft trailer and a level spot more than 12 m long (12,192 mm), with room for the truck.
• A cold room on a farm, at a shop or in a yard (fruit and vegetables after harvest, milk products, ice cream, meat or fish): a used reefer is a cold room that arrives ready, set to any temperature in its unit’s range. A reefer holds a temperature; it is not built to chill warm goods quickly. Produce that comes in warm from the field needs pre-cooling, or loading in batches the unit can bring down: ask the seller how much it can pull down in a day.
• Medicines and vaccines: the same box, with a unit that records its temperatures. Ask whether the log can be read and downloaded, and check what your licence asks for.
• Chilled cargo for export: exporters usually book a shipping line’s reefer with the freight. A box you own travels only with a valid CSC plate and a recent pre-trip inspection (PTI).
• Goods that only need to stay dry: a used 20 ft box, from ₹1,04,000, has no unit to power or service.
• A season, an event, a harvest: a reefer on rent may cost less than buying one.

Reefer container cost: what the price pays for

A reefer is a steel box lined with insulation, with a refrigeration unit built into its front end and an aluminium T-section floor that carries the cold air under the load (how a reefer container works). The box lasts; the unit wears. The unit and the insulated body carry most of the price: half of the sellers of a used 40 ft high cube reefer ask ₹6,00,000 or less, against a typical ₹1,90,000 for a used 40 ft high cube dry box (20 October 2026). Two reefers of the same size can be far apart in price because of the unit: its make, model and year, the hours it has run, whether it still runs at all, and the state of the insulation around it. A reefer sold with a recent PTI report and a running test is worth more than one sold “unit working”.

Asking prices this week ran from ₹5,00,000 to ₹8,50,000 for a used 40 ft reefer, and from ₹3,30,000 to ₹9,50,000 for a 20 ft one. Some listings filed among reefers are plain dry boxes, or reefers asked below the price of a dry box of the same size: this survey leaves both out. When a quote sits far below the others, ask first whether the unit runs. New reefers are listed by very few sellers, at far higher prices: ₹23,00,000 for a new 40 ft high cube reefer and ₹18,50,000 for a new 20 ft reefer on 20 October 2026, each from a single seller. Many “new refrigerated containers” listed for much less are cold rooms built for storage only, without a CSC plate: ask which one a quote is for.

Checks before you buy a second hand reefer container

1. The plates. The unit’s own plate gives its make (Carrier, Daikin, Star Cool and Thermo King build most container units), model, year and refrigerant; the CSC plate and the number on the doors identify the box. Ask for photos of all three with the quote.
2. A recent PTI report. The pre-trip inspection is the check a shipping line runs on a reefer before loading it: ask for the latest report, with its date.
3. A running test. Have the unit started on its power supply at the yard, set to your temperature, and watch the box pull down; a reefer yard usually has the plugs, so if the seller cannot run it, ask why. On a video call, ask to see the controller’s display and its list of alarms.
4. The insulation. With the unit running, walk round the box: frost, damp or cold patches on the outer walls show damaged insulation, often behind a repaired panel.
5. Doors and seals. The door gaskets should be whole all round; frost or water at the door edges means cold is leaking out.
6. The floor and the drains. Bent or cracked sections of the T-floor block the air under the load, and the drains must be clear for the defrost water.
7. Service near you. Ask who repairs that make of unit in your area and how far they travel, and whether the seller guarantees the unit in writing for a first period.
8. Papers and payment. A tax invoice in your name with the container number and the GST treatment and, for an imported box, the bill of entry. Look the seller’s GSTIN up on the GST portal, pay a business account in that name, and keep the balance until the unit has run on your site.

How to inspect a used container covers the steel box itself: roof, walls, corners and doors.

Power and shade for a refrigerated storage container

Container reefers usually run on a three-phase supply: the seller listings we read that state it give 380–460 V, and one offered a unit on 230 V single-phase. Ask which one the box has before you price the connection, and have an electrician check your supply and the cable run before it arrives; where the grid fails, a diesel generator set (genset) made for reefers can be quoted with it. Ask the seller too for the unit’s power use at your temperature, in kW: multiplied by the hours it runs, it gives the units (kWh) on your electricity bill. The heat outside, how often the doors open and the cargo change it: fruit that breathes and needs fresh air can draw more than frozen goods (reefer power supply). Shade helps, with a roof over the box and air free to move round the unit, which throws its heat out at the front.

Set the box level on firm ground, with the unit end towards the power point and room for the defrost water to drain. Empty, a 40 ft high cube reefer weighs about 4,505 kg and a 20 ft one 2,920 kg, more than dry boxes of the same size because of the unit and the insulation. Say in your request how it will come off the trailer, and check that the delivered quote includes the unloading. Site preparation and unloading explains the ground and the lifting.

Refrigerated shipping containers: buyers’ questions

What is the cost of a cold storage container?

A used 20 ft reefer is priced from ₹6,50,000 and a used 40 ft high cube reefer from ₹5,50,000 in our survey of 20 October 2026, for the box with its unit. Add the delivery, GST (18%), the unloading, the power connection and the electricity it uses. For a few months a year, a reefer on rent may cost less.

What temperature can a used reefer hold?

The data sheets give set points down to −25, −30 or −40 °C and up to +25 or +30 °C, depending on the unit, but a used unit may no longer reach the extremes: ask the seller for the lowest temperature it has held, and have it shown on a running test. The reefer container guide explains the temperature range and the set points by cargo.

Can I buy a 10 ft reefer container?

Some sellers list 10 ft refrigerated containers for small cold stores, but this survey does not price them yet. Write “10 ft reefer” in the message of your request, and ask for the same plates, PTI report and running test as for a larger reefer.

Where can I buy a reefer container near me?

Put your PIN code in a quote request: up to 5 partner sellers who cover it reply with a delivered price. The sample of asking prices above gives the area of each offer; buyers in other cities ask the same way.

Is GST charged on a reefer container?

Yes. A refrigerated container comes under HSN 8609 (tariff item 8609 00 10), taxed at 18%, unless a dealer in second-hand goods uses the margin scheme. Ask how the quote charges it, and see GST on shipping containers.