NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 2025: Union Minister for Home and Cooperation Amit Shah, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha, informed that the Government of India has approved and launched the World’s Largest Grain Storage Plan in the Cooperative Sector to address the critical shortage of foodgrain storage capacity in the country. Approved on 31 May 2023, the Plan is being implemented as a Pilot Project through the convergence of multiple existing Government of India schemes.
The Minister stated that the Plan focuses on creating comprehensive agri-infrastructure at the Primary Agricultural Credit Society (PACS) level, including godowns, custom hiring centres, processing units, Fair Price Shops and other facilities. This initiative will significantly enhance the operational capacity and income of PACS, transforming them into multi-service rural centres supporting local procurement, processing, warehousing, credit and financial services, while also generating substantial rural employment during construction and operational phases.
Mr Amit Shah highlighted that the Plan is being implemented through convergence with schemes such as the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure Scheme (AMI), Sub Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) and PM Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME). To improve the financial viability of PACS, several major reforms have been undertaken, including extension of the AIF loan repayment period to 2+8 years, reduction of margin money requirements, revision of construction costs, and enhancement of subsidy levels for PACS, along with additional subsidies for ancillary infrastructure.
The Minister further informed that the Plan leverages NABARD’s special refinance scheme, combined with 3% interest subvention under AIF, effectively reducing the loan interest rate for PACS to as low as 1%. Several States such as Rajasthan and Gujarat are also providing additional financial support through State-level schemes for godown construction.
Shri Shah emphasized the critical role of FCI, NAFED, NCCF, State Warehousing Corporations (SWCs) and State Marketing Federations (SMFs) in identifying PACS, mapping storage gaps, issuing hiring assurances, and ensuring operational utilization of godowns. FCI has agreed to provide a uniform 9-year hiring assurance for PACS godowns of 2,500 MT capacity and above, while NAFED and NCCF are extending similar support in their procurement zones.
The Minister stated that the Plan has now been expanded beyond PACS to include Cooperative Societies, Cooperative Federations and Multi-State Cooperative Societies (MSCS), enabling wider implementation and scalability. By promoting local storage, the Plan will reduce transportation costs, minimize post-harvest losses, ensure better price realization for farmers, and strengthen the rural economy.
Mr Amit Shah concluded that the World’s Largest Grain Storage Plan in the Cooperative Sector is fully aligned with the national vision of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Sahkar se Samriddhi’, empowering grassroots cooperatives with modern storage, processing and marketing infrastructure and placing them at the centre of India’s agriculture-driven growth.
