Disputes on new grain storage, even as urgency mounts

Differences persist on the location of silos for an additional two million tonnes of storage capacity as proposed for this year.

In a meeting on Friday under the chairmanship of Planning Commission member Abhijit Sen, attended by the Food Corporation of India brass, no clear decision could be taken in this regard. Sen told Business Standard there was a disagreement between FCI and the consultants (Mott MacDonald were hired in this capacity by the Commission to prepare a feasibility report on silo creation under a private-public partnership).

The consultants suggest the silos be put up in consuming states and FCI wants these to be created in the producing states, said Sen. There was also a lack of clarity on whether this extra two mt would be part of the capacity increase already approved by the cabinet or in addition to this. Besides, a detailed engineering framework and bid contracts had to be prepared, he said

 

Another meeting was scheduled for Monday to resolve the differences, said food ministry officials. FCI chairman Siraj Hussain said they’d given inputs and the ball was now in the court of the Commission. “We want 20,000,000 tonnes of storage capacity urgently,” he said, meaning decisions on location, bid documents and nodal implementation agency should be decided urgently.

With the procurement season for kharif round the corner, huge stocks of foodgrain and low offtake by states for public distribution, decisions on storage upgradation are imperative, said an official.