Marketing & Legislature Affairs Minister T Harish Rao today infromed to the house that the government will construct new godowns in the newly-formed mandals and unallotted 164 existing mandals based on requirement. Cold Storages will be constructed at areas wherein commercial crops are being sown, he said.
During question hour, the minister stated that the government is determined to increase the storage facility for the food grains across all the districts. The officials began the works of godowns worth of Rs 1024 cr and spent Rs 818.14 cr so far to increase the storage capacity to 18.30 lakh metric tons, the minister said. These godowns are being built in all segments irrespective of political affiliations Harish said. As per the directive of Chief Minister K Chadnrasekhar Rao the storage capacity is being increased and new godowns will be constructed in mandals wherever necessary. This will boost storage capacity, help the farmers sell the produce at MSP and market for better price, he hoped.
The District Collectors were asked to find land in the mandals to construct godowns and Nabard was asked to provide a feasibility report, the Marketing Minister informed the House. He said with the Nabard assistance, the government is able to build godowns and its institutions like Nafed, Markfed and Haca can store their food grains and save Rs 10 crore revenue a year. Harish said online tenders through e-procurement process were called for transparent construction of 364 godowns. The Government could save Rs 150 crore revenue by offering the tenders to the least bidder, he added.