FCI, Adani join hands for grain management

The Food Corporation of India (FCI) has begun the process of involving the private sector in handling, transportation and storage of foodgrains in bulk.

FCI has awarded a contract to the Adani Agri Logistics Ltd, a part of the Adani group, for creating the necessary facilities for cleaning, drying, transportation and storage of foodgrains in bulk in silos. This infrastructure will be created on the build-own-operate (BOO) basis by the Adani firm.

FCI managing director and chairman V K Malhotra told Business Standard that this project was part of the slew of measures the Corporation had adopted to improve efficiency of the grain management system. Mechanised handling and storage of grains in bulk would help cut down storage and transit losses besides minimising the costs incurred on weighing, bagging, stitching and handling of grain-filled bags.

The proposed project would help save approximately Rs 150 crore a year by eliminating these operations and losses, he said, he said.

The FCI had proposed to create a bulk handling and storage capacity of about 5.5 lakh tonne in the private sector through an approximate private investment of about Rs 500 crore. It would guarantee 100 per cent utilisation of the capacity for the first 10 years and 75 per cent for the next 10 years.

The FCI's objective was to create two nation-wide foodgrains movement and storage circuits. The first circuit would involve movement of grains in bulk from the base depot in Moga in Punjab to Coimbatore and Bangalore. The second circuit would link Kaithal base depot in Haryana with field depots in Navi Mumbai and Hoogly.

The entire project would be carried out with the cooperation of the ministries of agriculture, food and railways. It would involve the use of specially designed railway wagons capable of carrying foodgrains safely in bulk and emptying them mechanically at the silo-storage sites.