West Bengal agriculture marketing department is planning to set up cold-storages across the state. The cold storage will be set up in the premises of all kisan mandis or marketplaces where farmers sell their produce directly to buyers. The cold storages will be set up across 88 farmers markets under Public Private Partnership (PPP) models.
The government led by the Trinamool Congress had earlier decided to set up only warehouses in these markets but came up with this idea so that perishable items, namely vegetables could be stored for a longer period of time. About 50 warehouses for seeds are also under construction. The proposed godowns will entail an estimated investment of Rs 23 crore for which the state government has released Rs 10 crore for this project.
In order to supervise the construction of these markets for the East Midnapore district, the state agriculture department has also planned to open an office in Haldia.