Depts differ on notifying PSWC as agency for wheat storage

Rajmeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 3

The Food and Civil Supplies Department and the Agriculture Department are not on the same page as far as notifying the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation (PSWC) as the nodal agency for wheat storage is concerned. The corporation is under the Agriculture Department.

The proposal to notify the PSWC in place of the Food and Civil Supplies Department as the nodal agency for wheat storage was deferred in the recent Cabinet meeting.

The agenda item has been deferred for the second time after Food and Civil Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu raised some issues, it is learnt.

A senior government functionary said: “In case, the PSWC is made the nodal agency, the Food and Civil Supplies Department wants administrative control so that coordination with various procurement agencies and central agencies is done in a smooth manner. Both state entities are eyeing revenue generated from wheat storage. The state needs to increase its covered storage capacity as the existing cumulative storage capacity of the five state procurement agencies — Pungrain, Punsup, Markfed, PSWC and Punjab Agro Food Corporation (PAFC) — is short by over 55 lakh metric tonnes (LMT).”

Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, while asking the state agencies to create additional covered storage capacity, said the Food Corporation of India (FCI) should increase its foodgrain lifting capacity from Punjab so that space could be created for storing fresh stock.

Pungrain, one of the state procurement agencies, had given a guarantee to pay the committed rent of storage space for silos built in the state. Now, the government wants the FCI to give a guarantee to pay the rent of storage space that will remain unused in steel silos built to keep wheat.

The FCI had authorised the creation of 24.25 LMT silos as part of its roadmap. Agreements for the creation of 17 LMT silo capacity at 31 locations have already been executed by Pungrain. Three silos of 1.5 LMT capacity are being used for storing wheat since 2017-2018. But since the FCI has not agreed to give the guarantee, the process will have to be scrapped and fresh tenders will have to be floated as per the FCI policy.