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In order to create a buffer stock for onions and apples, which will help the farmers and stabilise prices, Nafed is setting up a 10,000-tonne capacity, temperature-controlled warehouse for long-term storage of agriculture produce on a BOT (Build, Operate and Transfer) basis.
The facility will come up on Nafed’s own land in Najafgarh, which is a part of the National Capital Region. The facility will operate as a cold storage for the crops procured by the agency.
The NAFED or the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd is one of the largest Central government organisation for procurement and marketing of agricultural produce.
Technical bids
A tender has already been issued inviting expression of interest for the establishment of the facility. By December 2, the technical bid has to be submitted. After scrutiny of the bids, Nafed will short-list the eligible bidders and then call for the financial bidding.
A senior Central Government official said that the buffer stock will help with managing short to medium-term price volatility of onions. Procurement of apples will provide some comfort and price stability to the owners of the orchards from the restive Jammu and Kashmir region, the official said.
Horti crops
The tender document issued by Nafed said that procurement of notified agricultural commodities such as onion, apple, potato and other perishable horticulture crops are under the under Price Support Scheme and Market Intervention Scheme. The tender document said that the bidder will have to prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the cold storage with the latest technology.
Nafed will provide required land, as per DPR. The onions will have to be stored for long term (6-8 months) under refrigeration with the temperature maintained at 0-1 degree Celsius and with a relative humidity of 65-68 per cent. The infrastructure will require a specialised grading and packaging line for packaging in 1 to 2 kg bags. The technology should include controlling temperature along with humidity, oxygen and carbon dioxide.
Nafed will avail the back-end subsidy from National Horticulture Board/Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture and remit the same in the account of the bidder. The agency will store onion and apple procured for buffer stocking and pay rentals to the bidder on mutually agreeable terms through a separate agreement, the tender document added.
Cold chain subsidy
The office of the Managing Director of Nafed, in an email reply, confirmed that the agency was going ahead with the facility for long-term storage of onion and apple at Najafgarh on a BOT basis.
Subsidy for cold chain projects is available from different Central Government schemes and Nafed will try to get the maximum subsidy as per eligibility from one of the schemes, the reply said.
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