Lok Sabha Question No. 225 (STARRED), answered on 2025-08-05
Subject: Cooperative Foodgrain Storage Scheme
Ministry: COOPERATION
Asked by: Shri Jugal Kishore, Shri Satish Kumar Gautam

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COOPERATION

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 225 TO BE ANSWERED ON 5 th  AUGUST, 2025

## Cooperative Foodgrain Storage Scheme

## †*225. Shri Satish Kumar Gautam: Shri Jugal Kishore:

Will the Minister of COOPERATION ( सहकारिता मंत्री ) be pleased to state:

(a) whether national level mapping of warehouses has been carried out under the Cooperative Foodgrain Storage Scheme in the country particularly in Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, if so, the details thereof;

- (b)  whether  any  financial  or  policy  interventions  are  proposed  to  strengthen  the  Cooperative Foodgrain Storage infrastructure particularly in Jammu, if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the cooperative institutions are being connected with the Food Corporation of India (FCI), NAFED, NCCF and State Warehousing Corporations; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof along with the objectives and expected outcomes?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF COOPERATION सहकारिता मंत्री (SHRI AMIT SHAH)

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

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (A) TO (D) IN RESPECT OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 225 FOR REPLY ON 5 TH  AUGUST, 2025 ASKED BY SHRI  SATISH  KUMAR  GAUTAM  AND  SHRI  JUGAL  KISHORE  REGARDING COOPERATIVE FOODGRAIN STORAGE SCHEME.

(a): Yes, Sir. In order to address the shortage of storage capacity for food grains in the country, the Government, on 31st May, 2023, has approved the Plan for the 'World's Largest Grain Storage Plan in Cooperative Sector', which has been rolled out as a Pilot Project.  Under the Plan, mapping of existing storage infrastructure has been initiated which includes identification of locations with storage gap by States/ UTs including Jammu & Kashmir and central agencies and mapping those against available PACS with land and operational readiness. For this purpose, a Committee at District level  namely District Cooperative Development Committee (DCDC) has been entrusted with the roles to examine and assess the availability of existing storage facilities, their capacity utilization, storage gap, capacity of proposed godowns, viability of the applicant PACS, location of the proposed project, connectivity, logistics, etc. The objective is to identify gaps in rural storage and target PACS for infrastructure development in such areas.

Under the  Pilot  Project,  construction  of  godowns  has  been  completed  in  11  PACS  of  11  States. Further, more than 500 PACS have been identified for construction of godowns under the project out of which 24 godowns in the State of Rajasthan have been completed and inaugurated on 17.7.2025. Further, the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu & Kashmir is executing the pilot at Rajbagh Kathua (MPCS Rajbagh) and has extended the plan in the deficit districts viz. Kulgam, Shopian, Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipora, Poonch, Rajouri, Doda, Reasi & Ramban identified by FCI.

(b): The Plan entails creation of various agri infrastructure at PACS level, including godowns, custom  hiring  centers,  processing  units,  Fair  Price  Shops,  etc.  through  convergence  of  various existing schemes of the Government of India (GoI), 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), etc.  Under the AIF Scheme the benefit of interest subvention is given to the PACS against the loan taken for construction of godowns and under AMI Scheme subsidy is given for the construction of foodgrain storage. The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has also made the following amendments under the AMI scheme:

- Margin money requirement has been reduced from 20% to 10%.
- The construction cost has been revised from ₹3000-3500/MT to ₹7000/MT for plain areas and from ₹4000/MT to ₹8000/MT for northeastern states.
- The subsidy has been increased for PACS from 25% to 33.33% (from ₹875/MT to ₹2333/MT for plain areas and from ₹1333.33/MT to ₹2666/MT for northeastern states).
- For PACS, a provision has been made to provide an additional subsidy of 1/3 (one third) of the total admissible subsidy for ancillary infrastructure such as internal roads, weighbridges, boundary walls, etc., for PACS.

Further,  some  States  such  as  Rajasthan  and  Gujarat  are  providing  financial  support  for  godown construction under the project through their own State level schemes.

In the UT of Jammu & Kashmir, the credit facility has already been provided in respect of Grain Storage at Rajbagh Kathua along with Margin Money met out of UT Capital Funds and the UT plans to provide similar facility for construction of other PACS godowns in the identified districts.

(c): PACS  are  being  actively  integrated  with  FCI,  NAFED,  NCCF,  State  Warehousing Corporations (SWCs) through this plan. These agencies have been  roped in for identification of PACS, constructions of godowns, providing hiring assurance,  and  extending  operational  support under the plan. FCI plays a critical role in mapping storage gaps for construction of godowns at PACS level and issuing hiring assurances, especially in non-DCP States. NAFED and NCCF, being national-level procurement and marketing cooperatives, are responsible for identifying PACS in their procurement  zones,  issuing  hiring  assurances,  guiding  proposal  development,  and  ensuring  full operational utilization of constructed godowns. Additionally, SWCs, in coordination with the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) and State Cooperation Departments, are tasked with facilitating timely hiring commitments.

(d): The key objectives and outcomes of this integration include:

- Promoting decentralized storage and reducing reliance on centralized procurement.
- Ensuring year-round utilization of PACS godowns through assured hiring.
- Improving the financial viability of PACS and enabling them to evolve as self-sustaining rural institutions.
- Strengthening last-mile delivery of foodgrains and reducing post-harvest losses.

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