India's Bold Decentralized Grain Storage Plan Takes Flight

India's ambitious grain storage project, led by the National Level Coordination Committee and Cooperation Secretary Ashish Kumar Bhutani, aims for a decentralized network of agricultural warehouses at the PACS level. Supported by NCDC, NABARD, and FCI, it is expanding to additional states and integrating government schemes for nationwide implementation.

The National Level Coordination Committee (NLCC) for India's ambitious grain storage project convened its inaugural meeting, led by Cooperation Secretary Ashish Kumar Bhutani, to review the pilot project's progress in 11 states. Launched last year, this initiative aims to establish a decentralized network of agricultural warehouses at the Primary Agricultural Credit Society (PACS) level nationwide.

Spearheaded by the Ministry of Cooperation, and implemented by the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) with support from NABARD and FCI, the pilot project is expanding to an additional 500 PACS. The plan utilizes existing schemes like the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) and Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure Scheme (AMI) to create facilities such as warehouses, custom hiring centers, processing units, and fair price shops.

States, Union Territories, and national cooperatives like NCCF and NAFED have further identified more PACS for storage capacity enhancement. The committee also strategized on nationwide expansion and potential godown linkages, with participation from essential ministry secretaries and heads of FCI, NABARD, and WDRA.