Sixteen companies have so far evinced interest in Food Corporation of India’s project for setting up silos for handling, storage and transportation of foodgrains.

RITES Ltd, the advisor to FCI for the silos, had floated global expressions of interest and is expected to finalise the companies for the construction of the silos on build-own-operate basis, by 19 April 2002.

Escorts, the Australia-based Augwest and the four-member consortium which includes Punjab Markfed, are some of the bidders. After shortlisting the names, the companies would be invited to make presentations. After this, financial bids would be invited and the prospective company would be selected.

The prospective investors for the infrastructure have been asked to bid on an ‘integrated circuit’ rather than an ‘independent silo/depot’ basis involving huge investment. Nine locations have been identified for the creation of fully automated bulk grain handling and storage terminals, incorporated weigh bridges, vertical silos, mechanical conveyor systems, railway yards with separate wagon loading lines and ground and overhead wagon kippers.

In June 2001, the government had accorded infrastructure status to foodgrains handling and opened up the sector to private players under the national storage policy. In the Budget too, several incentives were announced to attract private investment in the foodgrain storage sector.

Four of the identified locations—Barnala and Moga in Punjab and Sirsa and Kaithal in Haryana—would be developed as ‘base depots’ at the grain growing areas with a capacity of three lakh tonnes. The remaining five - Chennai, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Navi Mumbai and Hooghly—would be developed as ‘field depots’. These identified depots have been grouped into two wide circuits with each circuit comprising of two base depots and three field depots. The investors are likely to be asked to bid for a whole circuit rather than independent depots. The investor would also have to put in place a rail transport infrastructure for moving FCI foodgrains stored in bulk from the base to the field depots.

Grains are to be transported through dedicated bulk foodgrain trains carrying upto 2,200-2,500 tonnes and having specially designed wagons with top filling and bottom discharge facilities.