Lok Sabha Question No. 57 (STARRED), answered on 2023-12-06
Subject: Wastage of Foodgrains due to Inadequate Storage
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Kaushalendra Kumar, Dinesh Chandra Yadav

## INISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NOn57 TO BE ANSWERED ON 6TH DECEMBER, 2023

## WASTAGE OF FOODGRAINS DUE TO INADEQUATE STORAGE

## t'57. SHRI KAUSHALENDRA  KUMAR: SHRI DINESH CHANDRA YADAV:

Will  the Minister of  CONSUMER AFFAIRS,  FOOD AND  PUBLIC DiSTRiBUTiON aq struT qWT8, vr©3ttMTfqq fqvwr THt be pleased  to state:

- (a) the steps being taken by the Government for adequate storage of foodgrains in the country;
- (b) whether the foodgrains storage facility is available only for 57 percent of the total  foodgrain production of the  country and if  so, the facts thereof;
- (c) whether the developed countries have double the grain storage facilities than is required;
- (d) whether every year  there  has  been continuous wastage of foodgrains in the country due to lack of ample storage facilities;  and
- (e) if so, the details thereof and the effective measures being taken by the Government to increase the said storage facilities?

## ANSWER

INISTER OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY, CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION AND TEXTILES (SHRI  PIYUSH GOYAL)

- (a) to (e):  A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e)  OF  THE STARRED QUESTION NO. 57  DUE FOR ANSWER ON  06.12.2023  IN THE LOK SABHA.

- (a):  Food Corporation of India (FeI) mainly stores wheat & rice after procurement for  Public  Distribution System (PDS) operations and to maintain buffer stock.

As on OIBll.2023, a quantity of 414.75 Lakh Metric Tonne (LMT) of stock is stored against the covered storage capacity of  762.49  LMT available with  FeI and State agencies for Central Pool, thus sufficient for current needs in this regard.

FOI eontinuously assesses and monitors the storage capacity and based on the storage gap assessment, storage capacities are created/hired- The capacities are created / hired through the following schemes:

1. Construction of Silos under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode
2.  Private  Entrepreneurs  Guarantee (PEG) Scheme
3. Central Sector Scheme (CSS) ·'Storage & Godowns'
4. 4- Hiring of  godowns from Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) / State Warehousing Corporations (SWCs) / State Agencies
5.  Private Warehousing Scheme (PWS)
6. Creation of godowns under Asset Monetization.

With  a  view to  modernize storage of  foodgrains and  to  rampnup the storage capacity for foodgrains in India, Department of Food & Public Distribution is undertaking construction of modern silos in PPP mode.

As on Of.11.2023, 5.5 LMT silo capacity is being utilized under eircuit  model. Railside Silos of  14.75 LMT capacity  at  29 locations  have been put into operation and silos of 9.O LMT at 18 locations are under construction.  In first  phase of Hub and Spoke model, tender for capacity of 34.875 LMT silos  at  80 looations  have been awarded and Concession

Agreements have been signed.

In  order to keep storage infrastructure robust and upgraded, approx 180 LMT Covered and Plinth (CAP) has been phased out, which has  ruled out any  chance of  quality issue. Infrastructure of  Fei  &  CWC warehouses have been upgraded and third party assessment & rating of FC:1's owned & CWC warehouses  have been done.

Further, Ministry  of  Agriculture  &  Farmers Welfare, Govt. of  India is implementing sub-scheme 'Agricultural  Marketing  Infrastructure  (AMI)' of Integrated Scheme for Agricultural Marketing (ISAM) across the country. The AMI sub-scheme has been continued /extended up to  31.03.2026 for its implementation.

Since inception of scheme inert from Of,04,2001 and up to  30,09,2023, a total of  46,878 storage infrastructure projects (Godowns), with  storage capacity  of 88.44 Million  MT have been sanctioned,  under the scheme.

In addition to  that,  the total  storage capacity  available with  CWC as on 31.10.2023 is 115.66 LMT, out of which 28.43 LMT capacity is being utilized by FC:1. During the FY 2022-23, a storage capacity of 2.71 LMT, including for foodgrains has been constructed  by CWC and a capacity  of 9.31 LMT is planned, during FY 2023-25.

Further, in order to  address the shortage of storage capacity for food grains in the country,  the  Government, on 31.05.2023, has approved the Plan for  the  'World's Largest Grain Storage Plan in  Cooperative Sector', to  be rolled out  as  a  Pilot  Project. The Plan entails creation of  various agri Infrastructure at  PACS level,  including warehouses, custom  hiring  center, processing units,  FaIr Price Shops, etc.  through convergence of  various existing schemes of the Government of  India (Gol), such as, Agriculture Infrastructure  Fund (AIF), Agricultural Marketing  Infrastructure Scheme (AMI), Sub  Mission on  Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) Pradhan Mantri Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Scheme (PMFME), Pradhan Mantri  Kisan  Sampada Yojana (PMKSY) and Mission for  Integrated Development of Horticulture  (MIDH).

National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) with  the support of  NABARD, NABARD Consultancy  Services  (NABCONS), Central  Warehousing Corporation (CWC), Food Corporation of  India  (FCI), National  Buildings Construction CorporatIon (NBCC), etc.  is  implementing the  Pilot  Project in different States/ UTs. States/ UnIon Territories and various National Level Federations such as National Agricultural  Cooperative Marketing  Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India Limited (NCCF) have identified  1,711 PACS to be included in the project.

- (b) & (c): The food-grain production  procurement and off take/consumption is spread over the year and goes on simultaneously. So, the  net requirement of storage capacity, which depends upon level of procurement, requirements of buffer norms and PDS Operations, is  less. The annual procurement under central pool ranges  from 750  LMT  to  IOOO LMT  while requirement under NFSA/OWS is  around 600 LMT and peak buffer norms are 411.22 LMT. So, existing storage capacity caters to the existing needs.
- (d) & (e): No sir, there  is no wastage  of food-grains/accrual  of  Non-lssuable stock due to lack of storage facilities.

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