The state government has decided to restructure the Andhra Pradesh State Warehousing Corporation (APSWC) by winding up all the unviable godowns and downsize the corporation by giving VRS to surplus employees.
APSWC was established in 1958 and the state and central governments hold 50:50 stakes in its present paid-up capital of Rs 7.61 crore.
The Implementation Secretariat (IS), which carried out a reform options study in respect of APSWC, came to a conclusion that out of its 70 godowns across the state, 40 to 50 were unviable as they were having less than 70 per cent occupancy.
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This is due to the fact that Food Corporation of India's (FCI), as part of a scheme, guarantees the occupancy of godowns constructed by private investors where APSWC plays a role of intermediary.
Under the scheme, FCI is accepting only those godowns that are constructed with scientific technology and are big ger in size, according to Deepak Kumar Panwar, the chairman of IS.
As a result, the APSWC godowns which are smaller and not equipped with the FCI specifications have become unviable and will continue to be unviable due to existence of newly constructed private godowns under the ongoing scheme, he said. The restructuring decision was taken keeping these aspects in mind, Panwar added.