Performance of Agri-warehousing in India

Abstract

Warehouses are scientifically designed storage structures that protect the quantity and quality of stored products with necessary preservation methods. This study was conducted to assess the growth and performance of warehouses, Negotiable Warehouse Receipt (NWR) and electronic Negotiable Warehouse Receipt (e-NWR) in India. Percentage analysis indicated that there is 102.42 per cent growth in the number of Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) warehouses with the average storage capacity of 106.78 lakh MT and that of State Warehousing Corporation (SWC) warehouses has growth of 105.25 per cent with 439.12 lakh MT average storage capacity. In 2017-18, Warehouse Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA) issued total 6447 NWRs for Rs. 313.66 crores value of deposited commodities and farmers got sanctioned the loan of Rs. 90.35 crores against NWRs. In 2019-20, WDRA issued total 134939 e-NWRs for Rs. 5303.44 crores value of deposited commodities and farmers got sanctioned the loan of Rs. 405.01 crores against e-NWRs which indicates that progress of e-NWR is faster than NWR. Study suggested that proper capacity building and awareness programs to farmers, higher tenure of loan and reducing warehouse rental cost will help the farmers to get the maximum benefit out of e-NWR.