The Food Corporation of India (FCI) that has been trying to woo private players to arrange storage space finally got some success in Haryana. The Corporation got Expressions of Interest for 4.5 million tonnes of covered storage facility in Haryana, against a requirement of four million tonnes.
The corporation last time received a response for 0.8 million tonnes of storage capacity out of which only 70,000 quintal were acceptable under the five-year guarantee scheme. FCI officials said the rates quoted by the private players were not viable.
According to FCI sources, the condition of ownership of land for providing the storage has been waived and this really helped mobilise better response.
Now, a registered agreement would be signed between the godown holder and landowner. The cost of land in the region was the major bottleneck in seeking the participation of private players.
The duration of five-year guarantee scheme has also been revised to seven years.
The FCI brass is also planning to waive the condition of financial closure for applicants and those awarded the contract would be required to provide it within 45 days of the award.
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The revision of rent ceiling from Rs 3.82 per quintal per month to Rs 4.78 per quintal per month also helped to generate better interest of the private players.
The last bids in Haryana were received on June 21 and would be opened on July 26.
The present covered capacity of FCI in Haryana is 2.36 million tonnes, that includes both own and hired.
An investment of roughly Rs 23,000 per tonne is required to create covered storage.
The escalating land cost and growing inflation dampened the interest of the private players in this regard.