Piyush Goyal launches ‘e-Kisan Upaj Nidhi’ to ease farmers’ warehousing logistics

Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Commerce and Industry, and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal, launched the ‘e-Kisan Upaj Nidhi’ (Digital Gateway) of the Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA) in New Delhi. This initiative is poised to become a cornerstone in India’s journey to becoming a developed nation, ‘Viksit Bharat’, by 2047, with agriculture as its foundational pillar.

Enhancing Warehousing Logistics for Farmers

During the launch ceremony, Shri Goyal expressed his gratitude towards the Indian farmers for their pivotal role in sustaining the nation. He emphasized that the ‘e-Kisan Upaj Nidhi’ initiative would leverage technology to simplify warehousing logistics for farmers, ensuring they receive fair prices for their produce. In a significant policy shift aimed at benefiting the farming community, especially the small farmers, Shri Goyal announced a reduction in the security deposit charges at WDRA-registered warehouses from 3% to 1%.

Digital Gateway: A Stepping Stone for Attractive Farming

Shri Goyal highlighted the ‘Digital Gateway’ initiative as an essential step in making agriculture more appealing to farmers. By providing a no collateral, extra security deposit policy, ‘e-Kisan Upaj Nidhi’ aims to prevent distress sales, where farmers are compelled to sell their harvest at lower prices due to inadequate post-harvest storage facilities.

Quality Assurance and Infrastructure Upgrade

The minister stressed the importance of WDRA’s role in ensuring the quality and security of the warehouses. With mandatory registration for warehouses utilized by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and a roadmap for state warehouses to upgrade their infrastructure, WDRA is set to enhance the overall storage ecosystem. Shri Goyal also revealed plans for the world’s largest cooperative food grain storage scheme, aiming to provide free registration for all godowns under the cooperative sector.

Simplifying the Storage Process

‘e-Kisan Upaj Nidhi’ simplifies the digital process for farmers to store their produce in registered WDRA warehouses for six months at an interest rate of 7% per annum. This initiative, alongside e-NAM, is designed to offer farmers the benefits of an interconnected market, far beyond the traditional government procurement at Minimum Support Prices (MSP). The government’s procurement through MSPs has notably increased 2.5 times over the past decade, underscoring the commitment to support the farming community.