Bihar is set to strengthen its cooperative storage infrastructure with 36 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) approved under the Centre’s World’s Largest Grain Storage Plan, Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah informed in Rajya Sabha
As per the written reply, the approved PACS projects involve an estimated investment of Rs 104.3 crore. So far, loans worth Rs 71.63 crore have been sanctioned by District Central Cooperative Banks and the Bihar State Cooperative Bank.
The scheme offers significant financial support, including 33% subsidy under the Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI) scheme and interest subvention under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), effectively bringing down the loan interest rate for PACS to around 1%.
In addition, Bihar has already created substantial storage capacity at the grassroots level, with 7,286 godowns constructed, generating 17.47 lakh MT capacity. For 2025–26, the state has sanctioned 278 more godowns with an allocation of Rs 180.20 crore.
The initiative aims to strengthen decentralized storage at village level, helping reduce post-harvest losses, cut transportation costs and improve farmers’ price realization through the cooperative network.
