Lok Sabha Question No. 1421 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-07
Subject: Procedure for Setting up Cold Storage
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Shrirang Appa Barne, Ravindra Kushawaha, Ravi Kishan Shukla, Sanjay Sadashivrao Mandlik, Manoj Kumar Tiwari, Sudheer Gupta, Prataprao  Jadhav, Bidyut Baran Mahato

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1421

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 07 TH DECEMBER, 2021

## PROCEDURE FOR SETTING UP COLD STORAGE

## 1421.  SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE:

SHRI RAVINDRA KUSHWAHA:

SHRI RAVI KISHAN:

SHRI SANJAY SADASHIVRAO MANDLIK:

SHRI MANOJ TIWARI:

SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA:

SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV:

SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATAO:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी be pleased to state:

- (a) the  criteria  and  procedure  for  setting  up  of  cold  storages  by  the  Government  in  the country;
- (b) whether the Government proposes to provide adequate storage facility for agricultural produce across the country and if so, the details thereof along with the action taken thereon;
- (c) whether farmers are facing difficulties due to lack of storage facilities and they have to face  the  problem  of  wastage  of  their  produce  and  if  so,  the  steps  taken  to  provide adequate amount of storage facilities across the country;
- (d) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  provide  any  financial  assistance  for  the construction  of  storage,  cold  storage  and  warehouse  facilities  and  if  so,  the  details thereof, State-wise;
- (e) the present capacity of storage facility, cold storage and warehouses in the country; and
- (f) the other steps taken/being taken by the Government to save the produce of farmers?

## ANSWER

## MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

(a)  to  (f):  Government  does  not  setup  cold  storage  of  its  own.  However,  Government  is implementing various schemes under which financial assistance is provided for setting up of cold storage throughout the country.

Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) is implementing Mission for  Integrated  Development  of  Horticulture  (MIDH)  under  which  financial  assistance  is provided  for  various  horticulture  activities  including  setting  up  of  cold  storages.  The component is demand/entrepreneur driven for which Government assistance in the form of credit  linked  back  ended  subsidy  is  available  at  the  rate  of  35%  of  the  project  cost  in general areas and at the rate of 50% of the project cost in Hilly and Scheduled areas.

Under MIDH, cold storages are sanctioned by State and Central level Committees constituted for this purpose under operational guidelines of MIDH. For seeking assistance for setting up of cold storage under MIDH, promoter/entrepreneur submits the proposal to the concerned State Horticulture Mission. The powers for sanction of projects up to project cost of Rs.500 lakh including setting up of cold storage have been delegated to State Level Executive Committee (SLEC). Projects with a project cost of more than Rs. 500 lakh and up to a capacity of 5000 MT are approved by the Empowered Monitoring Committee (EMC) of DA&FW on recommendation of SLEC.

Besides,  National  Horticulture  Board  (NHB)  is  implementing  a  scheme  namely 'Capital  Investment  Subsidy  for  Construction/Expansion  /Modernization  of  Cold  Storages and  Storages  for  Horticulture  Products'.  Under  the  scheme,  credit  linked  back-ended subsidy at the rate of 35% of the capital cost of the project in general areas and 50% in case of North East, Hilly & Scheduled areas for construction/expansion/modernization of cold storage and Controlled Atmosphere (CA) storage of capacity above 5000 MT and up to  10000 MT is available. In case of North Eastern region, the units with capacity above 1000 MT  are also eligible for assistance under NHB.  The Scheme  is  demand/ entrepreneur-driven. As  per Scheme  Guidelines,  applicant has to  make  an  online application to NHB for In-Principle Approval (IPA). After receipt of IPA, applicant is required to  get  the  Term  Loan  sanctioned from Bank/Financial Institution. Thereafter, NHB issues Grant of Clearance to start the project.  Upon completion of project using promoter's equity and  bank  term  loan,  the  subsidy  claim  is  to  be  submitted  to  NHB.    After  physical  joint inspection of the project, subsidy claim is considered and approved by the Project Approval Committee  of  NHB.  Thereafter,  NHB  subsidy  is  released  in  the  subsidy  reserve  fund account of the lending Bank/Financial Institution.

Further, Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFPI) is implementing a Scheme for  Integrated  Cold  Chain,  Value  Addition  and  Preservation  Infrastructure  as  one  of  the component  of  Pradhan  MantriKisanSampadaYojana  with  the  objective  of  reducing  postharvest  losses  of  horticulture  and  non-horticulture  produce  and  providing  remunerative price to farmers for their produce. Under the scheme, Ministry provides financial assistance in  the  form  of  grant-in-aid  at  the  rate  of  35%  for  general  areas  and  50%  for  North  East States,  Himalayan  States,  Integrated  Tribal  Development  Programme  (ITDP)  areas  and Islands for storage and transport infrastructure and at the rate of 50% and 75% respectively for value addition and processing infrastructure subject to a maximum grant-in-aid of Rs.10 crore  per  project  for  setting  up  integrated cold  chain  projects including irradiation facility. The  integrated  cold  chain  and  preservation  infrastructure  can  be  set  up  by  individuals, groups of entrepreneurs, cooperative societies, SelfHelp Groups (SHGs), Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), NGOs, Central/ State PSUs etc. Standalone cold storages are not covered under the Scheme. The entrepreneurs desiring to set up a cold chain project has to apply against Expression of Interest (EOI) issued from time to time.

Department  of  Agriculture  and  Farmers  Welfare  is  also  implementing  Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI) scheme, a sub-scheme of Integrated Scheme for Agricultural Marketing  (ISAM)  across  the  country.  AMI  is  demand  driven,  credit  linked,  back  ended subsidy scheme. Under the scheme, subsidy at the rate of 25% for plain areas and 33.33% for  NER,  hilly  area  is  available  for  beneficiaries  viz,  Individuals,  Farmers,  Group  of farmers/growers, Agri-preneurs, Registered Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), Cooperatives, and state agencies etc. for development of Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure Projects including storage infrastructure.

Depending  on  requirement  in  specific  areas  and  for  modernization  of  the  storage facilities, the Government has been implementing the following schemes for construction of Warehouse/godowns including silos in the country:

- i. Private  Entrepreneurs  Guarantee  (PEG)  Scheme:  Under  this  Scheme,  which  was formulated in 2008, storage capacity is created by private parties, Central Warehousing Corporation  (CWC)  and  State  Government  Agencies  for  guaranteed  hiring  by  Food Corporation of India (FCI).
- ii. Central Sector Scheme: This scheme is implemented in the North Eastern States along with Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Kerala. Funds are released by the Government to FCI and also directly to the State Governments for construction of godowns.
- iii.  Construction  of  steel  silos:  In  addition  to  conventional  godowns,  construction  of  steel silos  has  been  undertaken  from  2016  for  modernizing  the  storage  infrastructure  and improving shelf life of stored food grains.

Further,  as  per  the  study  on  'All  India  Cold-chain  Infrastructure  Capacity  (AICIC2015)' conducted by NABARD Consultancy Services (NABCONS) reported the capacity of Cold storages required at that time was 35 million MT against the existing capacity of 32 million  MT  in  2014.  The  present  capacity  of  cold  storages  is  37.83  million  MT  and Warehouses is 173.65 million MT in the country.

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