TN to build 47 godowns at Rs 117 cr

The Tamil Nadu government has ordered the construction of 47 godowns across the state to ensure an uninterrupted supply of foodgrains in the public distribution system. The godowns would come up in Thanjavur, Coimbatore, Krishnagiri, Villupuram, Pudukkottai, Sivaganga, Namakkal, Kancheepuram, Tiruvannamalai, Tirupur, Tuticorin, Tiruvallur, Trichy, Karur, Ramanathapuram, Erode, Dharmapuri, Salem and Vellore.

The government is providing 20 kg of rice at no cost to each of the 1.92 crore family card holders. Since the existing godowns have a capacity to store 6.68 lakh metric tonne of grains at any given time, there is a growing demand for more godowns.

The State Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has given administrative sanction to construct 37 godowns in the first phase. The modern godowns will help store 1.46 lakh metric tonne of food grains. It will cost 117.2 crore, a release said. The godowns in the state are owned by the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation, Tamil Nadu Warehousing Corporation, Central Warehousing Corporation and private entrepreneurs.