Chandigarh: As Punjab prepares to kick off its paddy procurement season on Oct 1, shortage of storage space continues to be a concern for the rice industry. Punjab currently holds a total storage capacity of roughly 182 lakh tonnes, whereas existing foodgrain stock exceeds 270 lakh tonnes.The current inventory includes 150 lakh tonnes of accumulated rice, comprising 9 lakh tonnes from 2023-24, 58 lakh tonnes from 2024-25, and 83 lakh tonnes from 2025-26. The godowns also hold 118 lakh tonnes of wheat.Representatives of the Punjab Rice Industry Association warned that massive bottlenecks threaten to paralyse operations across mandis and rice mills if old foodgrain stocks are not cleared immediately.“Millers are ready to extend full cooperation and handle around 180 lakh tonnes of new paddy. However, our biggest concern is where adequate space will be made available for storing the resulting rice and delivering it to the FCI,” said Bharat Bhushan Binta, president of the Punjab Rice Industry Association.Senior vice-president of the association, Ranjit Singh Jossan, pointed out that while Punjab required an annual movement of approximately 245 lakh tonnes of foodgrain (120 lakh tonnes of wheat procurement and 125 lakh tonnes of rice delivery), the current evacuation pace was restricted to just 11 to 13 lakh tonnes per month.Experts estimate that this pace needs to nearly double to 20 lakh tonnes per month to prevent complete gridlock. To avert a crisis, the rice industry has urgently demanded that at least 50 lakh tonnes of additional storage space be cleared by Dec 31.Godowns across Punjab are already choked with around 180 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of rice from the previous three procurement seasons, while covered and plinth (CAP) storage facilities with a capacity of 60 LMT are also full.
