Food Corporation of India (FCI) notified 10 Sites in States for Construction of Modern Silos/Mandis

The Food Corporation of India (FCI) in April 2012 notified 10 sites in States for construction of modern silos to be declared as mandis. The decision to construct silos/mandis reflected FCI’s objective to augment capacity for storing food-grains for the public distribution system. The mandis would be constructed to enable farmers to directly sell their produce.

The FCI Board of Directors headed by Chairman Siraj Hussain on 13 April 2012 decided that the silos shall be either located within the local mandi or declared as mandis by the States. The silos are to be located alongside railway sidings.

With the coming in of fresh stocks of wheat in the mandis, storage has become a major concern with the Food Ministry. Government needs to urgently accelerate creation of additional storage space to prevent rotting of grains stored in the open as well as to keep enough stocks to fulfil its obligation under the proposed National Food Security Act to provide by law subsidised foodgrains to the poor.

The government appointed M/s Mott McDonald as consultants for conducting a feasibility study on creation of modern storage facilities. The consultant submitted the final report to the Planning Commission in November 2011. Based on their proposals the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) for Food approved the creation of facilities for storing 20 lakh tonnes of foodgrains in 10 States under its Private Entrepreneur Guarantee Scheme (PEG) wherein the FCI will give guarantee for hiring the facility for 10 years.

State-level panels

The FCI Board of Directors also set up State-level committees on silos headed by the zonal chief with representation from the Ministries of Food, Agriculture, and Railways, and mandis and States on it. The committee is responsible for approving the locations for godowns in each of the 10 States — Bihar, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, and Gujarat.

The Board directed that locations with high procurement and off-take of wheat be preferred for creation of silos. The location of silos is to be considered on the basis of wheat procurement and off-take in a revenue district. Each silo is to have a capacity of either 25000 tonnes or 50000 tonnes depending upon the availability of space under the Private Entrepreneur Guarantee Scheme. Each State will have to provide the space for construction of godowns. Creation of 51.25 lakh tonnes capacity in Punjab and 38.8 lakh tonnes in Haryana was recommended.

In the wheat procuring-cum-consuming regions of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, silos have been sanctioned for additional capacity. Proposal for creation of 19.52 lakh tonnes in Madhya Pradesh and for 6.40 lakh tonnes in Bihar was also approved during the meeting of the FCI board on 13 April 2012.

The FCI Board decided that in the consuming regions of Maharashtra, West Bengal, Assam, Kerala and Gujarat the silos should have at least four-month storage capacity. The States which have not been able to sanction the capacity or start construction work for silos will have to let go and transfer their sanctioned capacity to another State. The States will have to provide land and invite tenders within three months following the approval of the location.