FCI to add capacity in north east

The Food Corporation of India (FCI), the Central government's food procurement and distribution agency, is increasing its storage capacity in the North-East by 15,000 tonnes. Post-expansion, its storage capacity in the region will reach 4.25 lakh tonnes.

"The capacity addition is being done at an expenditure of Rs 8.75 crore and is likely to be operational next year," said Mahboob Ali, executive director of the corporation. The expenditure includes construction of a 5,000-tonne capacity godown in Jordhang (Sikkim).

The locations in the region, where new storage capacities are being added are Bualpuri in Mizoram (5,000 tonnes), Badarpur Ghat in Assam (5,000 tonnes), Chaulkhowa in Assam (4,170 tonnes), Kohima and Dimapur, both in Nagaland (5,000 tonnes each), Nandan Nagar in Tripura (2,500 tonnes) and Jiriban in Manipur (2, 500 tonnes).

The hilly terrain of the North-East makes creation of new storage godowns difficult. Most of the land acquired needs to be evened out and it takes extra time and effort. This is the reason why no company, public or private, is keen on creating new storage capacity in the region.

The storage capacity of the FCI is used for storage of wheat, rice and sugar.

These commodities are distributed at subsidised rates to various categories of card holders under the Central government-sponsored public distribution system.