Going by the words of Union Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs K V Thomas, the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) has huge plans for the state.
“The CWC will open new warehouses in three districts which do not have a warehousing facility at present and will augment the procurement capacity in other districts,” the minister said here on Tuesday.
“The CWC will open the modern warehouses in Wayanad, Kollam and Kasargod districts and the procuring capacity of the warehouses in other districts will be increased,” he said adding that there is a plan to implement an IT-enabled warehouse management.
“The CWC is also planning to open warehouses with the back-up of Travancore Cements in Kakkad and Kottayam,” the minister said. The negotiable warehouse receipt, by which the corporation can pledge the resources procured in its warehouses for loan from banks, will also be implemented soon.
The Minister said that the warehousing corporation made a profit of `200 crore last year. The minister urged the State government to implement the Food Security Bill passed by the Centre. “The subsidies being received by the state would not be affected with the implementation of the Bill,” the minister said. He claimed the Centre has not discarded the state’s demand for more food subsidies.
“A total of 98,000 metric tonnes of rice and 23,000 metric tonnes of wheat have been allotted for the state during the past one year,” he said.