Odisha to create additional storage for rice to accommodate paddy glut

With Odisha recording massive paddy harvest over the years and paddy procurement shooting up following increase in minimum support price (MSP), the State government has decided to create additional godown space of 10 lakh metric tonnes for rice in the State through a public-private-partnership mode.

“In order to strengthen the food supply chain, the Odisha government proposes to develop 10 lakh metric tonnes of additional storage capacity under the Odisha State Private Entrepreneur Scheme (OSPEG) framework through the PPP mode. While 4 Iakh metric tonnes of storage will be created in the first phase and 6 lakh metric tonnes will be created in the second phase,” the State government said, announcing Odisha State Private Entrepreneur Guarantee (PEG) Scheme, 2026.

As per the government, paddy procurement in the State has witnessed a substantial increase in recent years. The total procurement has risen from 70.88 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) during 2023–24 to 97.94 LMT during 2025-26, along with a significant increase in the number of farmers participating in the procurement process. The State government has spent ₹30126.24 crore towards procurement.

Of the 26.27 lakh metric tonnes of rice received from custom millers, the Food Corporation of India lifted 8.12 lakh metric tonnes of rice in 2025-26. The FCI had collected 28.84 lakh MT rice in 2024-25. After usage of rice in public distribution system programmes, the State government is left with huge stock of rice. According to government, the State does not have enough storage to accommodate surplus rice.

At present the procurement, storage and supply chain management activities are undertaken through the Odisha State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited (OSCSC). The Corporation currently utilizes approximately 160 godowns (owned as well as hired) across the State, with a combined storage capacity of about 6.73 lakh MT.

“In view of the steady increase in procurement volumes and the likelihood of further growth in procurement in the coming years, the existing storage infrastructure is expected to face considerable pressure. Therefore, there is a pressing need to augment the existing storage capacity in a systematic and planned manner, so as to ensure safe storage of food grains, and ensure timely distribution under PDS and other welfare programmes,” said Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare department in the notification on October 1, 2026.

As per guidelines, in surplus districts, storage capacity should be planned as a percentage of total procurement in the district and in consuming districts, storage capacity may be determined based on the number of months of stock required to meet PDS and other welfare scheme demand.

Godowns should enable scientific storage of rice while no godown under this scheme would be less than 2500 MT capacity, the government made it clear.

The State government proposes to facilitate the creation of additional scientific storage capacity through participation of private entrepreneurs. Under this approach, private entrepreneurs will develop, operate and maintain scientific storage facilities in accordance with prescribed specifications.