India plans to triple wheat storage capacity

The expansion is part of the Indian government’s $15 billion investment to create an additional 700 lakh tonnes (70 million tonnes) of grain storage capacity over the next five years by constructing thousands of warehouses and bins throughout India. The stated goal is to construct enough grain storage capacity to store 100% of India’s grain production.  

The Food Corporation of India (FCI) stores 40 million to 50 million tonnes of rice and wheat as part of the National Food Security Act. India, which recently passed China as the world’s most populous country with 1.4 billion people, currently has storage capacity for only 47% of its total grains output, according to the Indian government.

If successfully implemented, the scheme will decrease the amount of inadequately stored grain, reduce the need for long-distance transportation, lower transportation costs, and improve the efficiency of the supply chain.

India, which is the world’s second largest producer of wheat and rice, needs more modern grain storage facilities to reduce post-harvest waste, the government said. The FCI already completed construction of 1-million-tonne and 2-million-tonne silos and eventually, as part of this grain storage expansion project, plans to build wheat silos at 196 locations across the country.