Exploring the Operational Efficiency of Agri-warehousing in India's Agricultural Sector

The main aim of the chapter was to assess the growth and performance of warehouses, Negotiable Warehouse Receipt (NWR) and electronic Negotiable Warehouse Receipt (e-NWR) in India. Warehouses are scientifically designed storage structures that protect the quantity and quality of stored products with necessary preservation methods. Before 2007, the warehouse receipts issued by the warehouses unable to utilize the banking services as there were fears of non-recovery of loans in the events of fraud or warehouse management issues. To overcome such difficulties, it was proposed to establish a Negotiable Warehouse Receipt (NWR) system for all the commodities. Under Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Act, 2007, the Government of India has launched electronic Negotiable Warehouse Receipt (e-NWR) on 26th September, 2017 but made mandatory from August 2019. Study employed percentage analysis which showed that there is 102.42 per cent growth in the number of Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) warehouses with the average storage capacity of 106.78 lakh MT and that of State Warehousing Corporation (SWC) warehouses has growth of 105.25 per cent with 439.12 lakh MT average storage capacity which is four times more than CWC storage capacity. In 2017-18, Warehouse Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA) issued total 6447 NWRs for Rs. 313.66 crores value of deposited commodities and farmers got sanctioned the loan of Rs. 90.35 crores against NWRs. In 2019-20, WDRA issued total 134939 e-NWRs for Rs. 5303.44 crores value of deposited commodities and farmers got sanctioned the loan of Rs. 405.01 crores against e-NWRs which indicates that progress of e-NWR is faster than NWR. Study suggested that proper capacity building and awareness programs to farmers, proving higher loan to value of commodity, higher tenure of loan, reducing warehouse rental cost and government could link the roads of remote villages and warehouses to reduce the transportation cost will help the farmers to get the maximum benefit out of e-NWR.