Nutritious grains such as millets, which are popular as candidates for diet diversification, have an inherent capability to thrive under adverse growth conditions of temperature. This review draws attention to the effect of cold temperature on macronutrients such as starch and amylose, in millets and related cereal grains. It focuses on the changes in starch biosynthesis mechanisms and the resulting influence on nutritional properties. It also describes how cold temperature is beneficial in increasing the concentration of amylose within starch granules that leads to health benefits for patients suffering from type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular ailments. Various studies on millets growing in hot semi-arid regions have been carried out, although, with a primary focus on their proximate composition and nutritional properties only. In this review, special attention has been drawn to the scarcely explored area of the effect of cold temperature on the growth of millets in cold semi-arid regions. With evidence to support the effect of cold temperature in increasing amylose content within starch granules, it is imperative to study millets thriving in high altitude semi-arid regions which exhibit very cold temperatures during growth (10-15__ampersandsigndeg;C). We have also proposed studying the effect of cold temperature on starch biosynthesis in correlation to phytohormonal regulation of starch biosynthesis. Phytohormones are themselves controlled by temperature variations and may act upstream of starch biosynthesis to alter the accumulation of starch components such as amylose. Millet populations growing in cold semi-arid regions are potential candidates for revealing genetic diversity that exhibits higher amylose content.