Union Minister Pralhad Joshi asks states to create more foodgrain storage facilities

New Delhi: Union Food Minister Pralhad Joshi on Tuesday asked all state governments to create more storage facilities for foodgrains amid the rising procurement of wheat and paddy crops.

Replying to supplementaries during the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, the minister also asserted that losses of foodgrains in transit and storage have come down considerably due to improvement in the infrastructure in the public distribution system (PDS).

"As far as storage and transit loss is concerned, it has considerably come down, especially because of technology-driven activities in the overall system," Joshi said.


The minister highlighted that the procurement of wheat and paddy has risen multi-fold during the last 11 years.

Joshi said 478 lakh tonnes of paddy were procured in 2014-15 and farmers were paid Rs 66,949 crore as MSP. In 2024-25, 813 lakh tonnes of paddy were procured for Rs 1,88,821 crore.

The procurement has increased because of the favourable policies by the Modi government, including a sharp rise in the minimum support price (MSP), the minister said.

"We have excess quantity of paddy and wheat today in the country," Joshi said, adding that states have been demanding to enhance procurement levels.

The minister said, "I am requesting all state Chief Ministers to create storage facilities".

Joshi said the Centre is providing funds and also facilitating the creation of new storage facilities.

The minister also informed that there are no pending dues to the West Bengal government as of now.

However, he said, there are some states which are not issuing receipts to beneficiaries and urged them to do so.

In a written reply, Joshi said, "There are no curbs imposed by the Government of India on procurement of paddy by the State Governments".

The estimates for procurement of paddy are finalised by the Centre after consultations with the respective state governments, before the commencement of each marketing season, taking into account a range of factors, including estimated production, past years' procurement, and marketable surplus, the minister said.