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Govt approves construction of 10 mn tonnes of steel silos

The government has approved plans to construct steel silos with 10 million tonnes capacity by 2020 in public private partnership (PPP) mode for storing foodgrains.

The Food Corporation of India (FCI) has awarded contracts for creation of 1.6 million tonnes silos and state governments have completed/awarded contracts for 2.15 million tonnes silos.

"Government has approved an action plan of FCI for construction of steel silos of capacity 10 million tonnes by FCI as well as state governments in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode in a phase-wise manner (3 phases) by the end of year 2019-20," Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs C R Chaudhary said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

The FCI, which is a nodal agency for procurement and distribution of foodgrains, handles about 60 million tonnes of wheat and rice annually.

"The silos are being constructed through private sector participation in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. FCI will be benefited as it will not incur any capital investment for any of the projects," the minister said.
The responsibility of designing, building, financing and operating the silos will be of private parties, he added.

Chaudhary said silos are a safer and modern means of storage, and foodgrains can be stored for a longer period, with reduced losses and less handling and labour costs.
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