CHANDIGARH: Even as its granaries in Punjab remain packed with wheat and rice from previous procurement seasons which are yet to be cleared thus once again bringing in focus the storage problem, now a new crises has come to fore. Already lost 10 lakh tones of space of storage space to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) as the state-owned Punjab State Grains Procurement Corporation (Pungrain) failed to give the godown owners an increase in the storage charges.
The Private Entrepreneurs Godown (PEG) Owners Association has now asked Pungrain to vacate its godowns, which the corporation had leased to store foodgrains under the PEG scheme. The association's move comes after Pungrain asked the owners to revise their financial terms but capped the rates it was willing to offer at the levels fixed in 2012. As a result, the owners are being offered the same rent as they were 14 years ago.
Pungrain which is rehiring a total capacity of 35 lakh tones has sent a communication to PEG godown owners, asking them to attend a financial negotiation on October 21 regarding the rehiring of their godowns. For which tenders were initially invited in April as these godowns were originally hired back in 2012.
But the godown owners said that they cannot close a rehiring deal because Pungrain capped the offered rates way back in 2012 thus they have already requested the corporation to vacate the godowns. The association has sent a communication to the managing director of Pungrain, stating that their grain storage agreement expired in April following delays in the tender process. While renewal tenders were invited that same month, godown owners claim the process has stalled due to the red-tapism in the department.
As an interim arrangement, the godowns continued to be used on an actual utilisation basis for six months. However, this period expired in September and the godown owners have not agreed in principle to any previous or further extensions on this basis and have asked Pungrain to vacate the godowns.
Dapinder Singh Brar, chief of the PEG Owners Association said that they are not hopeful of any positive result because Pungrain has fixed a ceiling on the rates offered back in 2012. "The godowns were initially hired at a monthly rent of Rs 3.75 to Rs 4.25 per quintal. Then in 2023, these state-wide facilities were leased for a three-year term that has now concluded. Thus now offering the same rent 14 years later is completely unjustified,’’ he said.
Already Pungrain lost 10 lakh tonnes of foodgrain storage space to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) because the state government has failed to give the godown owners an increase in the storage charges.
"We are also willing to shift to the FCI as they offer a higher rent price of Rs 7.40 per quintal per month, which also include preservation charges. Even if the additional responsibility of preservation is entrusted on them by the FCI, they were willing to take the offer,” said Brar.
Sources in the food and civil supplies department said the issue is being handled carefully to satisfy PEG owners while ensuring no storage space is lost.
These godowns are presently holding 116 lakh tonnes of wheat.
A severe space shortage has forced agencies to use rice mills and mandi yards for storage. Although the Central Government has set a target to procure 180 lakh tonnes of paddy during the current kharif harvest, there is simply no space available to store the grain.
The entire warehouse capacity of 180 lakh tonnes is currently full. The government godowns are already storing 155 lakh tonnes of rice accumulated over the past three seasons. An additional 10 lakh tonnes of paddy from the last season are still waiting to be milled, which is expected to add another 6 lakh tonnes of rice to the existing stockpile.
