The Government of India launched the world’s largest grain storage initiative in the cooperative sector on May 31, 2023, now underway as a pilot project. It aims to develop agri-infrastructure at the Primary Agricultural Credit Society (PACS) level, godowns, custom hiring centers, food processing units, and Fair Price Shops, by converging schemes like AIF, AMI, SMAM, and PMFME.
As of now, godowns have been built in 11 PACS across 11 states. Over 500 PACS have been identified for further godown construction, targeted for completion by December 2026. The government also plans to establish new multipurpose PACS, dairy, and fisheries cooperatives in all villages and panchayats within five years. Since the plan’s approval in February 2023, 22,933 new cooperatives have been registered, including 5,937 multipurpose PACS.
To boost efficiency, a Rs 2,925.39 crore PACS computerization project is integrating 73,492 PACS into a national ERP system. Karnataka alone has 5,628 PACS under this project, with 3,765 already onboarded. Hardware installation is nearly complete in the state.
This was stated by the Minister of Cooperation, Amit Shah in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.
