HYDERABAD: Minister for Marketing and Irrigation T. Harish Rao has directed the officials of the Marketing Department to complete the construction of 130 godowns across the State by March-end by getting funds from the Centre.
Out of the construction of 330 godowns taken up with the grant given under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) by the Centre, 200 godowns were completed and work on the remaining 130 was in progress. The Centre had sanctioned ₹264 crore grant for the purpose and had already released half of it, ₹132 crore.
At a review meeting held here on Monday, the Minister directed the officials to send the utilisation certificates to the Centre and pursue the release of the remaining half of the grant of ₹132 crore. The Minister also cleared construction of eight godowns in alternative sites as the sites selected initially were under dispute.
Stating that production of crops, particularly that of paddy, was expected to increase significantly this Rabi season, Mr. Harish Rao said all arrangement to handle the arrivals at market yards, including the storage facility in godowns, had to be in place by the time harvesting was taken up.
The Minister said it was being estimated that paddy production would be around 28 to 30 lakh tonnes this Rabi season besides, the ongoing arrivals of redgram, bengalgram, groundnut, cotton, chilli, turmeric, onion and other crops. He discussed the problems being faced by the farming community and the prices they were getting for their produce.
Asking the officials to monitor prices in the neighbouring states constantly, the Minister said they should be ready for intervention whenever the prices of crops would go down below the support price. The new Marketing Act would be made in the budget session of the Assembly, he noted. Director of Marketing G. Lakshmi Bai and others attended.
