18 September 2013 | Crops and Cereals | 3004 views

The right time to invest in Indian grain storage

Demand for grain warehousing in India is expected to grow in the coming five years, according to a new report by Rabobank, driven by an envisaged grain-storage deficit, inadequate storage and the new Indian “Food Security Bill”. Collectively, these trends are provoking the development of large-scale storage solutions which would be a mix of silos and traditional brick godowns. However, long gestation periods and fluctuating government policies have meant that large corporations have been cautious to invest in the past. Rising land prices and declining labour availability bolster the already strong case for modernised silo storage and handling solutions. In the long run, strategic players who prefer a relatively lower degree of government control will be investing; however, in the short-term, silos will attract investment on the back of government schemes and captive usage by private millers and processors.