Referring to the ambitious project of constructing the “World’s Largest Grain Storage Plan in Cooperative Sector”, Union Minister Amit Shah said in a written reply in the Parliament, the construction has started at five PACS, one each in the States of Tripura, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Detailed Project Reports are under preparation for the remaining PACS.
The creation of decentralized storage capacity ranging from 500 MT to 2000 MT at PACS level would reduce food grain wastage by creating sufficient storage capacity, strengthen food security of the country, prevent distress sale of crops and enable farmers to realise better prices for their crops, he added.
Since PACS would be operating as a procurement centre as well as Fair Price Shops (FPS), the cost incurred in transportation of food grains to procurement centres and again transporting the stocks back from warehouses to FPS would also be saved, underlined Shah.
Earlier, the Ministry of Cooperation constituted an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) with the Home and Cooperation Minister as its chairman and Ministers and Secretaries of Ministries concerned as its members for smooth and effective implementation of the Plan.
It bears recalling that the Union Cabinet, in its meeting held on 31.05.2023, has approved the “World’s Largest Grain Storage Plan in Cooperative Sector”, to be rolled out as a Pilot Project.