Lok Sabha Question No. 1846 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-08-01
Subject: World’s Largest Food/Grain Storage Plan
Ministry: COOPERATION
Asked by: Gautham Sigamani Pon, Heena Vijaykumar Gavit, T. R. Paarivendhar, Sujay Radhakrishna Vikhepatil, Shrikant Eknath Shinde, Unmesh Bhaiyyasaheb Patil, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Krishna Pal Singh Yadav

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COOPERATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1846 TO BE ANSWERED ON 01/08/2023

## World's Largest Food/ Grain Storage Plan

1846.  DR. PON GAUTHAM SIGAMANI: DR. HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT: DR. T.R. PAARIVENDHAR: DR. SUJAY RADHAKRISHNA VIKHE PATIL: DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE: SHRI UNMESH BHAIYYASAHEB PATIL: PROF. RITA BAHUGUNA JOSHI: DR. KRISHNA PAL SINGH YADAV:

Will the Minister of COOPERATION (सहकाįरता मंũी) be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government plans to establish the world's largest food/ grain storage scheme in the cooperative sector and if so, the details thereof and progress made  in its implementation;
- (b) whether such storage will come up in 10 selected districts of different States and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Union Government has recently approved formation and empowerment of an Inter-Ministerial Committee for the above storage plan in the cooperative sector and if so, the details thereof;
- (d)  the  details  on  the  estimated  cost  of  the  above  food  storage  scheme  and  the  sources  of funding;
- (e)  whether  the  Government  plans  to  create  godowns  for  expanding  foodgrain  storage capacity and if so, the details of its size and magnitude;
- (f)  whether  the  Government  has  collaborated  with  the  State  Governments  to  ensure  the seamless integration of the food storage scheme  with existing agricultural policies/ programmes at the State level and if so, the details thereof; and
- (g) the expected outcomes and deliverables of the food storage scheme in terms of reducing food wastage, stabilizing prices and ensuring food security in the country?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF COOPERATION

सहकाįरता मंũी (SHRI AMIT SHAH)

(a) to (g): Yes sir. The Union Cabinet, in its meeting held on 31.05.2023, has approved 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 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies  (PACS)  level,  including  warehouses,  custom  hiring  center,  processing  units,  Fair Price  Shops,  etc.  by  leveraging  the  'whole-of-Government'  approach.  The  Plan  is  being implemented by utilizing the approved outlays of the following Government of India (GoI) schemes for creation/ modernization of infrastructure facilities at PACS level:

## 1. Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare:

- i. Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF),
- ii. Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure Scheme (AMI),
- iii. Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH),
- iv. Sub Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM)

## 2. Ministry of Food Processing Industries:

- i. Pradhan Mantri Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Scheme (PMFME),
- ii. Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY)

## 3. Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution:

- i. Allocation of food grains under the National Food Security Act,
- ii. Procurement operations at Minimum Support Price

Ministry  of  Cooperation  has  constituted  Inter-Ministerial  Committee  (IMC)  with Hon'ble  Home  and  Cooperation  Minister  as  its  chairman  and  Hon'ble  Ministers  and Secretaries of Ministries concerned as its members for smooth and effective implementation of  the  Plan.  The  said  committee  is  authorized  to  modify  guidelines/  implementation methodologies of the schemes identified  for convergence, as  and  when need arises,  within their approved outlays and prescribed goals for facilitating the Pilot Project of the Plan. The Ministry  of  Cooperation  has  also  constituted  National  Level  Coordination  Committee (NLCC) under the chairmanship of Secretary (Ministry of Cooperation) to steer the overall implementation of the Plan and reviewing the progress of implementation, etc.

In  order  to  monitor  the  implementation  of  the  pilot  project  and  to  ensure  seamless integration of the plan with the existing policies/ programmes at State level, States/ Union Territories have also constituted State Cooperative Development Committee (SCDC) at State level and District Cooperative Development Committee (DCDC) in each District under the

Chairmanship  of  Chief  Secretary  and  District  Collector  respectively.  The  SCDC/  DCDCs also have members drawn from other departments such as Revenue, Agriculture, Horticulture,  etc.  and  representatives  of  NABARD,  StCB,  FCI,  WDRA,  CWC,  SWC.  The committees will, inter-alia, examine the storage gap including existing storage facilities, their capacity utilization, capacity of proposed godowns, viability of the applicant PACS, location of  the  proposed  project,  connectivity,  logistics,  availability  of  basic  infrastructure,  market linkages, etc.

National Cooperative  Development Corporation (NCDC)  with  the support of NABARD, NABARD Consultancy Services (NABCONS), Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC), Food Corporation of India (FCI), etc. is implementing the Pilot Project in 24 PACS of 24 different States/ UTs. Construction has started at five PACS, one each in the  States  of  Tripura,  Haryana,  Tamil  Nadu,  Uttar  Pradesh  and  Madhya  Pradesh.  Detailed Project Reports are under preparation for the remaining PACS.

The creation of decentralized storage capacity ranging from 500 MT to 2000 MT at PACS  level  would  reduce  food  grain  wastage  by  creating  sufficient  storage  capacity, strengthen food security of the country, prevent distress sale of crops and enable farmers to realise better prices for their crops. Since PACS would be operating as procurement centre as well  as  Fair  Price  Shops  (FPS),  the  cost  incurred  in  transportation  of  food  grains  to procurement centres and again transporting the stocks back from warehouses to FPS would also be saved.

The estimated cost of the project for each PACS would vary and depend upon various parameters such as storage capacity, requirement for custom hiring centre, processing units, etc. Interest Subvention under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund would be dovetailed with the  subsidies  available  under  the  identified  schemes  for  the  construction  of  godowns  and other agri-infrastructure at PACS level.

*****