The government has laid out clear rules for choosing Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) to be part of the World’s Largest Grain Storage Plan in the cooperative sector. Only those PACS that are identified and approved by the District Cooperative Development Committees will be considered. These societies must be located in areas where agencies such as the Food Corporation of India, NAFED and NCCF have already found a shortage of storage space and are willing to hire the new godowns once they are built.
To qualify, a PACS must have a positive net worth for the last two financial years and must not be a bank defaulter. It also needs to show profit for three consecutive years, with total earnings of at least ₹5 lakh during that period. The proposed godown should ideally have a minimum capacity of 500 tonnes so that it can be used effectively for grain storage.
The project is being carried out by combining several existing government schemes, which makes it easier and cheaper for PACS to build storage facilities. Under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, PACS receive interest subvention on loans taken for godown construction, while the Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure Scheme provides a 33% subsidy for building foodgrain storage.
Other schemes like the Sub Mission on Agricultural Mechanization and the PM Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises also support related infrastructure.
NABARD has been made the central agency for releasing subsidies under this plan. Loans to PACS are given through State Cooperative Banks and District Central Cooperative Banks, which have been directed to process and disburse funds quickly so that construction is not delayed. The financial burden on PACS is further reduced by NABARD’s special refinance scheme.
When combined with the 3% interest subvention under AIF, the effective interest rate on loans falls to just 1%, making the project highly affordable for cooperatives.
Some states, including Rajasthan and Gujarat, have gone a step further by offering their own financial support for building godowns under the plan. With this mix of central schemes, state support and low-interest loans, the government expects PACS to play a major role in creating modern storage capacity across the country and reducing crop losses caused by inadequate warehousing.
