**Executive Summary**
This document is the answer provided by the Minister of State for Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution to the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1914, to be answered on February 11th, 2026. The question concerns the steps taken by the government to strengthen storage and distribution systems to reduce food loss and waste. The response details various schemes and initiatives undertaken in this regard, with completion dates specified.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **PEG Scheme:**
* Construction of conventional godowns in 24 states through private investment.
* Initiated in 2008.
* Capacity of 148.61 lakh MT completed as of December 31, 2025.
* **PEG Scheme II:**
* Focuses on creating covered capacity in wheat-procuring states, specifically Punjab and Haryana.
* Aims to phase out open storage.
* Envisages 60 LMT in Punjab and 30 LMT in Haryana.
* **Centre Sector Scheme (CSS):**
* Implemented in North Eastern States, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir, and Jharkhand.
* Funds released by the Government to FCI and State Governments.
* 1,17,680 MT capacity completed in North Eastern States and 20,000 MT in other states during the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) by FCI.
* 46,495 MT capacity also created by State Governments.
* Extended from April 1, 2017, to March 31, 2025.
* 123970 MT capacity completed.
* Culminated on March 31, 2025.
* **Asset Monetization:**
* Godowns constructed on FCI vacant land.
* 177 locations identified, with 17.47 LMT storage capacity.
* **Construction of SILOs under PPP Mode:**
* Steel silos constructed under Public-Private Partnership.
* 56 locations completed with a capacity of 31.75 LMT.
* **SMART Warehouse:**
* Uses IoT technology in government warehouses to prevent foodgrain losses.
* A pilot project is underway in FCI godowns.
* **Depot Darpan Portal:**
* Introduced for modernization and digitalization of storage facilities in FCI.
* Facilitates self-assessment, rating, and grading of FCI and CWC foodgrain depots.
* **Installation of Modern CCTV Cameras:**
* Installed in all FCI & CWC godowns for continuous monitoring.
* **Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI):**
* Implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare.
* Includes Capital Subsidy Scheme, Rural Godown Scheme (RGS), and Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure Grading & Standardization (AMIGS).
* Subsumed under the Integrated Scheme for Agricultural Marketing (ISAM) since April 1, 2014.
* 49,796 godowns created with 982.94 LMT capacity up to December 31, 2025, with subsidy release of Rs. 4832.61 crore.
* **World's Largest Grain Storage Plan in Cooperative Sector:**
* Approved on May 31, 2023, to address storage capacity shortage and create decentralized scientific grain storage infrastructure.
* Rolled out as a Pilot Project.
* Entails the creation of agri infrastructure, including godowns, custom hiring centers, processing units, and Fair Price Shops, through convergence of existing government schemes.
* Construction of godowns in 11 PACS of 11 States has been completed.
**Impact Analysis**
**FCI (Food Corporation of India)**
* *Impact:* Implementing the Centre Sector Scheme and SMART Warehouse project. Digitalization through the Depot Darpan portal. Continuous CCTV monitoring of godowns. Construction of godowns on vacant land.
* *Action Required:* Continue implementation of modernization and digitalization measures. Oversee the pilot project for SMART Warehouses. Maintain continuous CCTV surveillance.
**State Governments / UTs including Puducherry**
* *Impact:* Involved in the Centre Sector Scheme for godown construction and implementation of the AMI scheme.
* *Action Required:* Facilitate the construction and maintenance of godowns under relevant schemes.
**Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare**
* *Impact:* Implementing the AMI scheme, including Capital Subsidy Scheme, Rural Godown Scheme, and Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure Grading & Standardization.
* *Action Required:* Continue implementation of the AMI scheme and related components.
**Ministry of Cooperation**
* *Impact:* Coordinating with the Ministry to facilitate distribution systems and implementing the "World's Largest Grain Storage Plan in Cooperative Sector."
* *Action Required:* Provide hiring guarantee to PACS godowns. Oversee the pilot project implementation.
**PACS (Primary Agricultural Credit Societies) and other cooperative societies**
* *Impact:* Beneficiaries of the "World's Largest Grain Storage Plan in Cooperative Sector" for godown construction.
* *Action Required:* Cooperate with the government for the construction of godowns and the establishment of other agri infrastructure.
**Private Investors**
* *Impact:* Involved in the construction of godowns under the PEG Scheme.
* *Action Required:* Continue investing in godown construction and ensuring timely completion of projects.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution: Primary ministry responsible for storage and distribution of food and public distribution in India.
PEG Scheme: Scheme to construct conventional godowns by attracting private investment in multiple states.
World's Largest Grain Storage Plan in Cooperative Sector: Plan to address the shortage of storage capacity for food grains and the creation of decentralized scientific grain storage infrastructure in the cooperative sector.
Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI): Sub-scheme of Integrated Scheme for Agricultural Marketing (ISAM) to strengthen agricultural marketing infrastructure including storage infrastructure.
Food Corporation of India (FCI): Agency involved in the construction of godowns and implementation of storage schemes.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1914
TO BE ANSWERED ON lITH FEBRUARY, 2026
STRENGTHEN STORAGE AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS TO REDUCE FOOD LOSS
AND WASTE
1914. SHRI VE VAITHILIN(,AM:
Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
be pleased to state:
(a): whether the Government has taken steps to strengthen storage and distribution systems to
reduce food loss and waste, given that post-harvest losses cost India nearly 1.5 trillion annually
and affect staples such as paddy and wheat as well as perishables;
(b): if so, the details of initiatives supported for modern warehousing, moisture proof silos, cold
chain expansion, surplus food redistribution to food banks and community kitchens and
consumer awareness campaigns to promote mindful consumption and reduce wastage at the
household level; and
(c): whether the Government proposes to expand coordination with the Ministry of Food
Processing Industries, the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, State Governments/UTs
including Puducherry and civil society organisations to ensure efficient distribution, strengthen
circular economy models and achieve measurable outcomes in terms of reduced food waste and
improved national food security?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS.
FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
(SHRIMATI NIMUBEN JAYANTIBHAI BAMBHANIYA)
(a) & (b): The Government has taken following measures to strengthen storage and distribution
systems resulting reduce food loss and waste:-
PEG Scheme - Under the PEG Scheme, construction of conventional godowns has been undertaken
in 24 States by attracting private investment. PEG Scheme was initiated in 2008. A capacity of
148.61 lakh MT has been completed as on 3 1.12.2025.
PEG Scheme II- in order to create covered capacity in wheat procuring states specially Punjab and
Haryana, new Capacity was sanctioned in Punjab and Haryana to Phase out Open Storage i.e. 60
LMT in Punjab and 30 LMT in Haryana is envisaged under this Plan.
Centre Sector Scheme (CSS) - This scheme is implemented in North Eastern States along with
Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir and Jharkhand. Funds are released by the
Government to FCI and also directly to the State Governments for construction of godowns. During
12th Five Year Plan (2012-17), a capacity of 1 ,17,680 MT in North Eastern (NE) States and 20,000
MT in other than NE States has been completed by FCI. A storage capacity of 46,495 MT has alsobeen created by State Governments. This scheme was extended from 01.04.2017 to 31.03.2025. In
this period, a capacity of 123970 MT has been completed. This scheme is culminated on 3 1.03.2025 .
Asset Monetization- Under Asset Monetization, godowns are constructed on FCI vacant land. 177
locations were identified for construction of 17.47 LMT storage capacity.
In addition to the above, the Government is taking various steps to modernize warehouses
for increasing effectiveness in infrastructural as well as operational:-
Construction of SILOs under PPP Mode: The steel silos are constructed under PPP (Public
Private Partnership) mode which has led to significant cost reduction due to risk sharing and private
investment under this framework. In some cases, there is delay in completion of silos mainly due to
problems faced by private parties in acquiring land for the project, force majeure incidents and
approval from railways in case of railway siding silos. Such factors have contributed to
implementation delays rather than systemic cost escalation or regional imbalance.
Silos at 56 locations with capacity 3 1.75 LMT have been completed.
The SMART Warehouse uses loT technology in government warehouses to prevent foodgrain
losses. Monitoring parameters include temperature, humidity, gas levels, airflow, and events such
as unauthorized access, rodent, and insect activity. The pilot project is underway in FCI godowns
in phased manner.
Depot Darpan portal has also been introduced in the step of Modernization and Digitalization of
storage facilities in FCI. The Portal facilitates self-assessment, rating, and grading ofFCI and CWC
foodgrain depots.
Installation of Modern CCTV Cameras: Modern CCTV cameras are also installed in all FCI &
CWC godowns for continuous monitoring.
As per information received from Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, no such study
w.r.t. post-harvest losses cost India nearly 1.5 trillion annually, as stated, has been undertaken by the
AMI (Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure) Division of DMI(Directorate of Marketing &
Inspection). However, in order to strengthen agricultural marketing infrastructure including storage
infrastructure, the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare is implementing Capital Subsidy
Scheme, Rural Godown Scheme (RGS) for creation of scientific Storage capacity since 01.04.2001
and Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure Grading & Standardization (AMIGS) since 20.10.2004 for
creation of agricultural marketing infrastructure (other than storage). Both the schemes have been
subsumed as “Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI)” sub-scheme of Integrated Scheme for
Agricultural Marketing (IS AM) since 01.04.2014, and is implemented across the country including
UT ofPuducherry through its attached office, DMI.
Under AMI, a total of 49,796 godowns of storage capacity of 982.94 LMT has been created
up to 31.12.2025 with subsidy release of Rs. 4832.61 crore.
As informed by Ministry of Cooperation, to address the shortage of storage capacity for food
grains in the country and creation of decentralized scientific grain storage infrastructure, the
Government, on 3 1 st 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 Pricet
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
(c): To strengthen the storage and facilitate the distribution system, this Ministry in coordination
with the Ministry of Cooperation under “World’s Largest Grain Storage Plan in Cooperative Sector”
has providing hiring guarantee to PACS godowns on the lines of existing PEG schemes as the plan
is rolled out as 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 (SN4AN4), Pradhan Manta Formalization of Micro Food Processing
Enterprises Scheme (PMFME), etc.
Under the pilot project, construction of go(towns in 1 1 PACS of 11 States has been completed.
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