World’s Largest Grain Storage Plan gains momentum after Balaghat pilot completion

Key facts

• The World’s Largest Grain Storage Plan in the Cooperative Sector completed its pilot with a 500 metric tonne godown at Bahudeshiya Prathamik Krishi Saakh Sahakari Society Maryadit Parswada in Balaghat district, Madhya Pradesh.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the pilot facility on 24 February 2024 and the Madhya Pradesh Warehousing and Logistics Corporation has hired it.
• The plan converges Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure Scheme (AMI), Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation (SMAM) and Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Scheme (PMFME).
• Under AIF, Primary Agricultural Credit Society (PACS) get interest subvention on loans for warehouses and loan repayment period for PACS has been extended from 2+5 years to 2+8 years.
• AMI scheme reduced margin money for PACS from 20 percent to 10 percent and raised eligible project costs to ₹7,000 per metric tonne for plain areas and ₹8,000 per metric tonne for northeastern states.
• Government enhanced subsidy for PACS under AMI from 25 percent to 33.33 percent and allows an extra one-third subsidy for ancillary infrastructure like internal roads, weighbridges and boundary walls.