Parliament Question: Shortage of Foodgrain Capacity

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COOPERATION LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2850 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10th MARCH, 2026 Shortage of Foodgrain Capacity 2850. Shri Jai Prakash: Will the Minister of COOPERATION (सहकारिता मंत्री) be pleased to state: (a) whether it is a fact that in order to address the shortage of foodgrains capacity in the country and if so, the details thereof; and (b) the Government has taken an initiative to make the country world's largest grain storage in cooperative sector and if so, the details thereof? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF COOPERATION सहकारिता मंत्री (SHRI AMIT SHAH) (a) to (b): In order to address the shortage of storage capacity for food grains in the country and creation of decentralised scientific grain storage infrastructure, the Government, on 31st May, 2023, has approved the Plan for the “World’s Largest Grain Storage Plan in Cooperative Sector”, which has been rolled out as a Pilot Project. The Plan entails creation of various agri infrastructure including godowns, custom hiring centers, processing units, Fair Price Shops, etc. at PACS/ other cooperative societies level through convergence of various existing schemes of the Government of India (GoI), such as, Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure Scheme (AMI), Sub Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM), Pradhan Mantri Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Scheme (PMFME), etc. Under the pilot project, construction of godowns in 11 PACS of 11 States has been completed. So far, construction of godowns has been completed in 120 PACS across the country (Pilot Phase I – 11, Rajasthan – 90, Maharashtra – 15, Gujarat – 4) creating a total storage capacity of 72,702 MT. Additionally, agencies such as Food Corporation of India (FCI), National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED), National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India Ltd. (NCCF) and State Warehousing Corporations(SWCs) have identified 378 districts/ location across the country as per their storage requirement and States/UTs concerned have been requested for further identification of land in PACS and other Cooperative Societies. Further, Food Corporation of India (FCI) has agreed to provide uniform hiring assurance for 9 years to PACS/ other cooperative societies godowns under the Plan. The following progress has been made: • In Phase I, FCI has identified 216 potential locations for hiring of godowns of 2500 MT and above (1671 MT and above for North Eastern and Hilly areas) • About 26.03 LMT Storage requirement has been mapped by FCI in 216 potential locations in 18 States /UTs. In order to broaden implementation capacity and scale, the Plan has been expanded beyond PACS to include all Cooperative Societies, Cooperative Federations, and Multi-State Cooperative Societies (MSCS). ****