The only active association of cold storage facilities in West Bengal is the West Bengal Cold Storage Association.

The 60th Annual General Meeting was attended by Sri. Sunil Kumar Rana, President of WBCSA, Sri. Subhajit Saha, Vice President of WBCSA, Sri. Rajesh Kumar Bansal, Ex-President of WBCSA, Sri. Patit Paban De, Sri. Tarun Kanti Ghosh, Sri. Gobind Kajaria, Past Presidents of WBCSA, Sri. Dilip Chatterjee, Sri. Kaushik Kundu, Sri. Pradip Lodha, Chairman of District Committees of WBCSA, & many other eminent personalities.

Sri. Sunil Kumar Rana, President of West Bengal Cold Storage Association said that growers of potatoes are showing a great deal of enthusiasm, and this season, about 5.10 lakh hectares of land have been planted. West Bengal consumes 65 lakh tons of potatoes domestically, so the remaining supply must be sold outside the state. He estimated that 135–140 lakh tons of potatoes would be produced this season. He asked the authorities to set up a system for releasing the stored stock at a consistent rate of 12% per month during the unloading period to guarantee a stable price and consistent supply of potatoes in the market. To create the required action plan and keep an eye on the stock situation in real time, he suggested gathering and analyzing comprehensive data on cultivation, harvesting, storage, and marketing throughout India.

It was recommended that the government take action to help farmers maintain appropriate grading, curing, and assortment; standardization of those as mentioned above was also recommended. He requested that the amount of additional rent for an extended storage period be included in the notification for periodic rent revision, as extending the storage period past November has become a yearly occurrence.

Demand was made to raise cold storage rent to the level of other potato-producing states, where the current rate is between Rs. 230 and Rs. 270 per quintal, due to the periodic increases in input and capital costs for cold storage facilities. He stated that the government had not changed the cold storage rent, even though the Expert Committee had recommended that it be changed to Rs. 190 for South Bengal and Rs. 194 for North Bengal. However, the rent has been Rs. 168 and Rs. 172 for the past four years.

He believed that store owners’ reluctance to operate their units under the current rent structure may hinder the operation of cold storage facilities in the upcoming season. As a result, over 150 Cold Storage units are non-performing assets (NPAs) in the bank. Furthermore, since 100% storage capacity is rarely used, it was proposed that the cold storage rent calculation be based on 85% storage capacity rather than 100%.

Priyanka Dutta