Chennai, February 17 Tamil Nadu will set up an additional 130 modern rice storage facilities at an estimated cost of ₹495 crore, Minister MRK Panneerselvam said on Tuesday.
This move will enhance the State's annual rice storage capacity to 7.30 lakh metric tonnes, he added.
Opposition parties, including the main opposition party, AIADMK, in the Assembly, have been criticizing the ruling DMK government for not providing adequate storage facilities to store rice grains, particularly during floods in the delta districts during the monsoon season.
While presenting the interim budget for agriculture, Panneerselvam said that soon after the government assumed office in May 2021, there were rice warehouses with a total capacity of 1 lakh metric tonnes.
Over the last five years, he said, 253 modern rice storage warehouses with a capacity of 4 lakh metric tonnes were constructed at a cost of ₹331 crore to procure and safely store the rice harvested by farmers through their hard work.
With the aim of further enhancing storage facilities, the state minister for agriculture and farmers' welfare said, "130 modern storage facilities with a capacity of 3.30 lakh metric tonnes are being constructed at an estimated cost of ₹495 crore, with the aim of not wasting even a single grain of rice during floods."