Storage space shortage put Punjab food dept in a tizzy

Punjab government is unhappy over the Central government’s lackadaisical attitude towards putting up a scientific storage facility in the state.

According to Food Corporation of India (Punjab), Food and Civil Supplies Minister Adesh Pratap Singh Kairon, of an additional storage capacity of 12 million tonnes across India, Punjab was to have eight million tonnes new capacity, which was slashed to 5.2 million tonnes.

Finally 450,000 tonnes have been approved and 140,000-150,000 tonnes are referred for counter-offer, i.e the lowest rate offered by a bidder and approved by the high level committee.

He said, Punjab has about 10 million tonnes of storage capacity but most of it is unscientific. He added, the warehousing capacity of Punjab is obsolete and needs to be substantially upgraded.