New Delhi, Mar 5 (KNN) Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has announced a significant reduction in security deposit charges at Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA) registered warehouses, aiming to incentivise greater utilisation by farmers, particularly small-scale ones, and boost their income.

Under the new policy, farmers stocking their produce at these warehouses will only be required to pay a 1 per cent security deposit, down from the previous 3 per cent.

The announcement came during the launch ceremony of the ‘e-Kisan Upaj Nidhi’ (Digital Gateway) by the WDRA in New Delhi.

Minister Goyal emphasised that the ‘e-Kisan Upaj Nidhi’ initiative, leveraging technology, will streamline farmers’ warehousing logistics and facilitate fair pricing for their produce.

Describing the Digital Gateway initiative as a pivotal step towards making farming more attractive, Minister Goyal highlighted the significance of the ‘e-Kisan Upaj Nidhi’ in preventing distress sales by farmers.

This is achieved through its no collateral and reduced security deposit policy, addressing the challenges of poor post-harvest storage facilities.

Minister Goyal underscored the high standards and robust infrastructure of WDRA-registered warehouses, ensuring the protection of farm produce and fostering farmer welfare.

He urged for the mandatory registration of warehouses used by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) across states under WDRA and advocated for the preparation of infrastructure-ready roadmaps for state warehouses.

Moreover, Minister Goyal stressed the transformative potential of ‘e-Kisan Upaj Nidhi’ and e-National Agricultural Market (e-NAM), enabling farmers to leverage interconnected market technology.

He highlighted that beyond selling produce to the government at Minimum Support Price (MSP), farmers can benefit from increased government procurement through MSPs, which has risen 2.5 times over the last decade.

(KNN Bureau)