Tardy progess in building foodgrains storage in 6 states

NEW DELHI: The performance of six states including Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal has been unsatisfactory in construction of godowns for foodgrains storage through private participation, the Food Ministry has informed the PMO.


In its status note to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on the FCI's Private Entrepreneurs Guarantee (PEG) Scheme for construction of godowns, the ministry said: "Progress of PEG is not satisfactory in Bihar, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir."

Faced with storage shortage, the Centre had launched the PEG scheme targeting to create 20 million tonnes of covered and modern storage capacity via private investors in different states. Of these, 7 million tonne capacity has been created.

The PEG scheme was subsequently extended to state agencies who have the requisite land.

Under the scheme, FCI gives a guarantee of ten years for assured hiring of godowns for storage of foodgrains.

In the note, the ministry said the slow progress in construction of godowns in six states, where about eight million tonnes of storage capacity is to be created, was due to various factors including delay in conversion of land usage and finalising tenders.

For instance in Haryana, where 3.65 million tonnes storage capacity is to be built, getting approval on proposals for land use conversion (LUC) has taken time and consequently construction work has not commenced. Other states are still in the process of issuing tenders and shortlisting bidders for the purpose.

The Ministry informed the PMO that it will closely monitor the "problem states" this year. "Emphasis would be on completing the construction of on-going works and ensuring that tenders are finalised and work commenced for the balance."

The ministry has kept a target to achieve completion of construction of 6 million tonnes of storage capacity in the current fiscal.

State-run FCI is handling about 77 million tonnes of foodgrains as of now, as against the storage capacity of 74 million tonnes, which also includes cover and plinth (CAP) space.