Govt plans to build rice silos in main growing states

A shopkeeper arranges signs with prices on bags of rice at a shop in Mumbai March 19, 2009. Indian inflation headed towards zero in early March and analysts tipped it would soon turn negative, opening the way for the Reserve Bank of India to cut interest rates further to prop up demand and growth. The wholesale price index, India's most widely watched inflation measure, rose 0.44 percent in the 12 months to March 7, sharply lower than the previous week's 2.43 percent and below a forecast of 0.89 percent in a Reuters poll. REUTERS/Arko Datta (INDIA BUSINESS FOOD DRINK) - RTXCYWA

The government will construct high-tech silos for storage of rice in producing states once the technology for the same is fully ready, a senior Food Ministry official said today.

At present, pilot projects for rice silos have been undertaken by state-owned Food Corporation of India (FCI) at Kaimur and Buxar in Bihar to test the technology.

The West Bengal government has evinced interest for construction of rise silos when the technology for the same is finalised, the official said.

Once the technology is established, the central government would like to construct in West Bengal and other rice producing states, the official added.

The official further said the construction of silos for wheat is underway. The FCI has awarded contracts to operators for construction of wheat silos with a capacity of 2.5 lakh tonnes at six places in Punjab, Delhi, Bihar, Assam and Karnataka.

A storage capacity of 25,000 tonnes at Kotkapura in Punjab has been completed in 2017-18 while construction work is in progress in the remaining locations.

Further, Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) has also initiated construction of silos of 50,000 tonnes capacity at Nabha in Punjab.

Punjab has also planned to construct silos of 17 lakh tonnes capacity, of which work for 1.5-lakh-tonne capacity is completed while construction of another 15.5 lakh tonnes by the state agency is underway, the official added.