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The central government will set up 11 million tons of steel silos to extend the storage time of rice by one or two years to avoid grain waste and no need to wait for the results of the pilot.
The Food Corporation of India (FCI) discussed this issue with the Minister of Food in a video conference. Munishwar Vasudeva, managing director of Lotus Harvestec Private Limited, said that initially a rice storage capacity of at least 5 tons will be set up.
These steel silos will be located at approximately 250 locations in 13 states, with a capacity of 5,000 tons. Vasudeva said that in the first phase, 45-47 site locations will be determined to set up these silos by December.
According to a statement, FCI’s goal is to build a rice silo with a capacity of 125,000 tons, while the country’s goal is a capacity of 750,000 tons.
The pilot project is implemented by the National Collateral Management Services Limited (NMCL) in Kaimur and Buxar in Bihar. Accordingly, FCI is building a combined wheat and rice silo complex with a production capacity of 50,000 tons.
Both sites will have three wheat silos with a capacity of 12,500 tons and four rice silos with a capacity of 3,125 tons. FCI will import wheat from other regions for distribution there, and the rice will be purchased locally and stored for use.
FCI has built 550,000 tons of wheat silos, and the goal is to build, own and operate 10 tons of wheat under public-private partnerships (PPPs). As a result, FCI will own 2.9 metric tons, the states will own 6.85 metric tons, and the rest will be central storage companies.
FCI has received recommendations from a panel of experts to build flat-bottomed silos, which will reduce costs and are easier to operate and maintain. Its cost is 1.4 times the cost of building a wheat silo. Rice silos will spend more and extra cost to cool the tower and provide more space.
Complete News source : Construction World
