World's Largest Grain Storage Plan in Cooperative Sector | 07 Dec 2024

Recently, the Ministry of Cooperation highlighted the progress of World’s Largest Grain Storage Plan in the Cooperative Sector, focusing on the construction of godowns at Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) across India.

The plan aims to empower PACS by establishing decentralized storage facilities, processing units, and custom hiring centres.
- Warehouses and other infrastructure will be developed at PACS in 24 States/Union Territories, improving storage and reducing food wastage.
Under the Pilot Project of the Grain Storage Plan, grain storage godowns were constructed at 11 PACS across Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Assam, Telangana, Tripura, and Rajasthan.
- The Pilot Project has been extended, with over 500 additional PACS identified for the construction of godowns.
Subsidies and interest subvention are provided to PACS through the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) and Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure Scheme (AMI).
PACS are village level cooperative credit societies that serve as the last link in a three-tier cooperative credit structure headed by the State Cooperative Banks (SCB) at the state level.