SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir has received advance subsidy for only one grain storage project under the Centre’s World’s Largest Grain Storage Scheme in the cooperative sector, according to data tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
Replying to an unstarred question in the Upper House, Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah said the Union Territory has received an advance subsidy of Rs 0.14004 crore (about Rs 14 lakh) under the Agriculture Marketing Infrastructure (AMI) component of the scheme for a single project.
The Ministry said the decentralised grain storage plan is being implemented by converging multiple existing Central schemes, including the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), Agriculture Marketing Infrastructure (AMI), Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation (SMAM) and the Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme. Funds are released in accordance with the provisions of these schemes.
Despite receiving subsidy for only one project under AMI, Jammu and Kashmir has six grain storage projects approved under the overall scheme, Parliament was informed. However, no storage capacity has yet been reported as created in the Union Territory.
Nationally, the Ministry said 1,015 projects have been approved with a total storage capacity of 1.808 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) created so far. Gujarat leads with 275 approved projects, followed by Rajasthan (201) and Andhra Pradesh (117). Jammu and Kashmir ranks 14th with six approved projects.
The government said the plan aims to create decentralised storage infrastructure through Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) and other cooperative institutions. Besides warehousing, the facilities are expected to support grading, sorting, packaging, processing and logistics, while generating employment across the agricultural value chain.
As per the guidelines of the Agriculture Marketing Infrastructure scheme, construction of godowns by PACS and cooperative societies is to be completed within 18 months, with a further extension of up to six months permitted in justified cases.
