New Delhi, Apr 7 (IANS): The Food Corporation of India (FCI) often comes under scanner when images of massive wastage of food grains acquired under Minimum Support Price (MSP) by the government is either rat-infested or drenched in rains or some such wastage.

However, the government has claimed that thanks to increased covered storage, there has been minimal wastage of late in such FCI/central food storage.

"Against the offtake quantity of 688.57 lakh tonnes in 2020-21, the quantity of damaged food grains was merely 0.02 lakh tonnes (0.003 per cent) while that in 2021-22 (up to February 2022), the food grains damaged was 0.017 lakh tones out of the 691.40 lakh tones off take," as per data from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

As on March 1, the covered storage capacity available with the FCI and state agencies for storage of central pool food grain stock is 793.81 lakh MT against total stock of 521.92 LMT, Minister of State for Food and Public Distribution Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti told the Lok Sabha in reply to a question.

"It is a good sign. Things have indeed been improving as the government has increased covered storage. Incidentally, if we compare food grain wastage, it is more in the US than India," said agriculture expert Devinder Sharma.

FCI is operating more than 2,000 warehouses, owned, or hired, across India. In December 2021, it had declared that it would do away with open storage completely and go for only CAP (covered and plinth) storage by March 2022.