The Centre`s plan to construct bulk silos for wheat is not getting anywhere allegedly due to frequent objections made by the Food Corporation of India on one pretext or the other.

"The draft document of initial bids (expression of interest) for 11 silos has already been prepared by rites, but FCI has raised the issue of cost benefit analysis between bag and bulk storage which is needlessly delaying the project," official sources said. They said the FCI had also a thrown spanner in the works by stating, "with the proposal to go for decentralised foodgrain procurement, the corporation felt no need for going ahead with constructing bulk silos."
The food ministry had then argued that there was shortage of storage facilities, and irrespective of who did the procurement, silos were urgently needed for the purpose.
Moreover, it has been pointed out that the proposed construction of 11 silos were for a combined storage of only 2.1 million tonnes against the existing stocks of nearly 60 million tonnes of foodgrains with the Centre. Consequently, FCI argued unless a cost analysis proved that it was advantageous to go ahead with bulk silos rather than storing grains in bags, bids should not be invited.
In its reply food ministry said cost-benefit analysis could only be made once the prices had been quoted by the interested parties.
Sources said since FCI cannot go against the ministry`s decision to build private bulk silos, it had opted for delaying tactics even as the Centre`s grain stocks were burgeoning. Bureau Report