Govt to increase storage capacity to curb grain wastage
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COMMENTS 
A team of technical experts from China will be invited to interact with Indian officials on how to improve the country’s 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 country’s 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 India’s 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. That’s 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 country’s 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.
Source: The Economic Times, September 23, 2010
IANS, September 23, 2010
http://www.zeenews.com, September 2010