Sitting on foodgrain stock that is about three times the required level, the Government today said FCI will hire private godowns to hold the excess grain that is expected to flow in this season.
“To meet any increased storage requirement, Executive Directors (zones) and General Managers (regions) of FCI (Food Corporation of India) have been given full powers for hiring of godowns for short-term usage to store the procured foodgrains as per their requirement,” the Food Minister, Prof K.V. Thomas, told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.
The Government's grain inventory has built up due to record production and procurement in the last few years. The foodgrain stock was higher by 21 per cent at 53.4 million tonne as on April 1, 2012, compared to the stock level on the same day last year. The reserves are about 2.5 times the required norm of 21.2 million tonne as of April 1.
This year too wheat production has been pegged at about 90 million tonne. FCI expects to purchase nearly 31.8 million tonne of wheat in this rabi marketing season (April-May). The Government has capacity to store only 66 million tonne of wheat and rice.