Number of warehouse registrations on rise, outreach improving: WDRA

Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA) Chairman T K Manoj Kumar on Monday said there is an increase in the registration of warehouses and its outreach with banks and farmers has improved exponentially.

The decision that the government procured stocks should be stored in WDRA-registered warehouses or those warehouses which have applied for WDRA registration has resulted in the increased registration, particularly from State Warehousing Corporations (SWCs), he added.

Speaking at an event to commemorate the WDRA's Foundation Day, Kumar said: "There had been an increase in the number of warehouses registered with WDRA and its outreach with banks and farmers had improved exponentially."

He said State Bank of India (SBI) has launched a special product for lending against e-NWRs (electronic negotiable warehousing receipts) at reduced interest rate and lower fees. Karnataka Bank too has informed that it is in the process of launching a new product on e-NWR pledge finance, an official statement said.

The pledge finance in the last few years had been increasing steadily, the WDRA chief said, and appreciated the efforts of both public and private sector banks in this regard.

eNWRs were introduced in 2017 and made mandatory from August 2019. These instruments allow the transfer of ownership of a commodity stored in a warehouse without having to deliver it physically.

WDRA has brought in major changes to facilitate ease of doing warehousing business.

Addressing the event earlier, Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said warehousing and e-NWRs are going to play a critical role in the transformation of India. The Centre has taken steps for increasing registration of warehouses and promoting the benefits of registration with WDRA.

These include encouraging all government stocks to be kept in the WDRA registered warehouses and reduction in cost of insurance, he said, and added that e-NWRs have inspired all the stakeholders and partners to continue their collective approach to benefit the people of the country.

According to WDRA Joint Secretary Dheeraj Sahu, the pledge financing has increased to Rs 1,492 crore in 2021-22 from Rs 732 crore in 2020-21.

Central Warehousing Corporation Managing Director Arun Kumar Shrivastava, NERL Managing Director and CEO Kedar Desh Pande, NCML Managing Director and CEO Sanjay Kumar Gupta were among those present at the event.