The much-touted ‘Silos’ project for the storage of rice and wheat will now be implemented under the Private Entrepreneurs Guarantee (PEG) scheme of the Food Corporation of India (FCI), instead of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model that was envisaged earlier.
The project was earlier entrusted with the state government, but the decision was revoked after the government failed to find land suitable for setting up silos.
Union Minister of State for Food and Public Distribution K V Thomas told ‘Express’ that the government is planning to implement the project through the PEG scheme.
“Under this scheme, the scheme will be entrusted to private entrepreneurs whom the government will hire the space for 25 years. After the lease period, the silos will come under the direct ownership of the private entrepreneurs,” he said.
He said though the government will take the silos on lease for 25 years, the ownership would remain with the private entrepreneurs. They will be responsible for all the activities related to the silos, including its construction.
Thomas added that many such silos are successfully operating across the country under the PEG scheme.
The project was intended to tide over the crisis of shortage of rice and its increasing price. In the process, Ernakulam and Kozhikode were identified as places where silos could be built for storage of huge quantities of rice and wheat in a scientific manner for the entire state.
Though a high-level meeting with the participation of CM, Union Minister of State for Food and Civil Supplies, Revenue Minister, Civil Supplies Minister along with the district collectors of both these districts was held to demarcate the required three-and-a-half acres of land for building silos in Kochi, it was inconclusive.
In Ernakulam, though the district administration identified land belonging to the KSEB, the latter was not ready to hand over the land. In silos, grains are stored in a scientific way and there is little chance of their rotting.