The National Level Coordination Committee (NLCC) for the world’s largest grain storage plan held its inaugural meeting at the Ministry of Cooperation in New Delhi on Monday. The committee reviewed the implementation status of its pilot project, initiated last year across 11 states.

This plan aims to develop various agricultural infrastructures at the Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) level. These include warehouses, custom hiring centers, processing units, and Fair Price Shops. The initiative integrates several existing Government of India (GoI) schemes such as the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure Scheme (AMI), Sub Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM), and the Pradhan Mantri Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Scheme (PMFME).

Dr. Bhutani, Secretary of the Ministry of Cooperation, emphasized the project’s scope, highlighting its decentralized warehouse creation for a nationwide rollout.

The pilot project is implemented by the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) with support from NABARD, the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC), and NABARD Consultancy Services (NABCONS), in collaboration with respective states and union territories. The pilot will expand to 500 additional PACS with support from state governments, the National Cooperative Consumers Federation (NCCF), and the National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC).

Both state and national-level cooperative federations, including NCCF and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED), have identified additional PACS for developing storage capacity and other agricultural infrastructures under the project.

Committee members also discussed strategies for nationwide expansion, including linking godowns with various stakeholders to optimize storage and distribution networks.