Govt clears ₹1 tn plan to let co-ops build grain storage

Move to reduce burden on FCI, cut wastage of farm produce and help farmers plan sales

- Puja Das

The Union cabinet on Wednesday cleared a ₹1 trillion scheme to increase foodgrain storage capacity by 70 million tonnes in the cooperative sector. This will be world’s largest grain storage plan in the cooperative sector. The plan will let cooperatives set up decentralised storage facilities across the country, in a move that is likely to reduce the burden on Food Corp of India (FCI), cut wastage of farm produce and help farmers plan their sales better.

The plan is to converge existing schemes of the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare, ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution, and ministry of food processing industries, and to utilize the funds available under the schemes for this purpose.

In December, Mint had reported that India is working on setting up the world’s largest grain storage facility by merging various schemes of these three ministries in the wake of disruptions caused by the war in Europe and the covid-19 pandemic.