Govt
to increase storage capacity to curb grain wastage
(http://infochangeindia.org/poverty/news/govt-to-increase-storage-capacity-to-curb-grain-wastage.html)
(07.10.2013)
A team of technical experts from China will be invited to
interact with Indian officials on how to improve the countrys warehousing
facilities and deal with the problem of rotting grain
Stung by Supreme
Court criticism about grain rotting in warehouses of state-run agencies, with some estimates pegging the
losses at Rs 58,000 crore (nearly $13
billion), the Indian government has decided to increase storage capacity
by 17 million tonnes over the next five
years.
We have started
putting in place additional storage capacity of 1 million tonnes of foodgrain this fiscal. Over the next five
years, we will create additional storage
facilities of 17 million tonnes, Minister of State for Agriculture K V Thomas said.
At the same time, I
would like to add that rotten foodgrain amounted to 70,000 tonnes during the previous season, against the total
procurement of 93 million tonnes. But
certainly, even that should not happen, Thomas said.
We have to raise the
countrys agricultural production manifold to satisfy the needs of
beneficiaries when the Food Security Act
is enacted. For that, we must have in place a
state-of-the-art storage system — and we will have that.
Thomas said a team of
technical experts from China, a country he visited a few months ago to study its grain and food
storage systems, will be invited to
interact with Indian officials on how to improve Indias warehousing
facilities.
Currently, the
state-run Food Corporation of India (FCI) and the Central Warehousing Corp (CWC) have the capacity to
store 87 million tonnes of grain. The
CWC has 487 warehouses with a capacity of 10.6 million, while the FCI, with 1,500 godowns, accounts for the rest.
Warehousing at CWC
facilities are not just for grain but for a host of other items like industrial goods, custom-bonded merchandise
and products for dispatch by air, rail
and sea. A CWC official said a fresh capacity of 177,300 tonnes would be added this year.
The problem is only
in some places where the grain is stored in open areas. Thats why we have asked the private sector to build
the godowns. In fact we have assured
them 10-year contracts to hire the godowns, said a top official in FCI. At a recent meeting with top officials on prospects for
the coming season, Agriculture Minister
Sharad Pawar estimated the countrys grain production at 218 million tonnes during July 2010-June 2011 and asked
agencies to be better prepared for
procurement.
There is the need
for reduction of wastage in storage, and improving efficiency of the food supply chain. Incentives in this regard
have been made more attractive to
attract more private investment. These need to be followed up
vigorously, the minister said.