Grain Storage Plan: Godowns Built in 313 PACS by July 2026

A PIB backgrounder of 3 September 2026 set out the progress of the Decentralised Grain Storage Plan in Cooperative Sector. The Plan was launched in 2023 and works through Primary Agricultural Credit Societies, or PACS, which are village-level bodies that give short-term credit to rural borrowers. It is meant to improve storage, processing, procurement and distribution by bringing existing government schemes together.

Why storage matters

Foodgrain production for 2025-26 is put at 376.563 million tonnes in the Third Advance Estimates. That is about 18.8 million tonnes more than the 357.732 million tonnes of the previous year, a rise of 5.3 per cent. India also runs the National Food Security Act of 2013, which covers about 80 crore people. The Ministry of Cooperation has therefore pressed for storage close to where grain is grown, so that transport costs between procurement centres fall and wastage drops.

From pilot to scale

The pilot states were Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Assam, Karnataka and Tripura.

How it is financed

The Plan converges four schemes: the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, the Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure scheme, the Sub Mission on Agricultural Mechanization and the Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises scheme. The subsidy under the marketing infrastructure scheme was raised from 25 per cent to 33.33 per cent, and the margin money requirement was cut to 10 per cent. NABARD channels the subsidy, while State Cooperative Banks and District Central Cooperative Banks lend to PACS. With NABARD's special refinance facility and the 3 per cent interest subvention under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, the effective loan interest rate for a PACS comes down to 1 per cent. The Food Corporation of India has been authorised to give assured hiring of eligible godowns.

One society's story

Nerpingalai PACS in Amravati, Maharashtra, built a warehouse of 3,000 MT under the Plan with support from the marketing infrastructure and infrastructure fund schemes. Around 300 farmers store nearly 32,000 bags of soybean there. The society has advanced about Rs 4.50 crore against the stored produce, which helps farmers avoid distress sales. Storage structures must display the approved grain storage logo and the prescribed colour scheme, and must meet Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority norms. PACS are identified and approved by District Cooperative Development Committees, should preferably own their land, and where land is leased the lease must run longer than 20 years.