"WAREHOUSING 2008" : KOLKATA REGIONAL CONFERENCE TO BEGIN ON NOVEMBER 4

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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"WAREHOUSING 2008" : KOLKATA REGIONAL CONFERENCE TO BEGIN ON NOVEMBER 4

Kolkata : November 3, 2008

Dr. Akhilesh Prasad Singh, Minister of State for Food and Public Distribution, Government of India will preside over the "WAREHOUSING 2008" : The Warehousing (Development & Regulation) Act - Issues & Challenges" scheduled to begin tomorrow at Taj Bengal, Kolkata. Shri Naren Dey, Minister, Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs, Govt. of West Bengal will inaugurate the programme. The programme is aimed at addressing various issues arising out of implementation of the "WAREHOUSING 2008" : The Warehousing (Development & Regulation) Act, 2007' and various issues relating to the Warehousing sector in India. This regional conference in Kolkata is being jointly organised by the Department of Food & Public Distribution, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Govt. of India, Central Warehousing Corporation, Food Corporation of India and FICCI.

Warehousing 2008 marks the first step towards sensitizing different stakeholders such as Central and State Govt. officials, Warehouse operators both from public and private sector, commodity exchanges and commodity traders, banks & insurance agencies, logistic operators, farmers' representatives and others involved in warehousing development in India about the Act and opportunities and challenges arising out of its implementation. A National Conference of Warehousing was organized in New Delhi during September 12-13, 2008 which was to be followed by 5 regional conferences being organized to generate wide-raging awareness of the concerned stakeholders. This conference would be followed by regional conferences in Mumbai (18th November), Chandigarh (28th November) and Bhopal (to be announced).

The programme of the conference has been carefully structured to ensure that all issues related to warehousing are deliberated. The conference would focus on key issues such as Impact of Warehousing (Development & Regulation) Act on Agri Business, Banking, Insurance, Taxation and Legal Issues in context of the Warehousing (Development & Regulation) Act, Negotiable Warehouse Receipts : Concept and Implementation , Negotiable Warehouse Receipts System : Impact on Farmers, etc.

The Warehousing (Development & Regulation) Act, 2007 has been enacted by the Parliament in September, 2007. The main objectives of the Act are to make provisions for the development and regulation of warehouses, negotiability of warehouse receipts, establishment of a Warehousing Development & Regulatory Authority and related matters.

Negotiable Warehouse Receipts (NWRs), issued by warehouses registered under the Act, would help farmers avoid distress sale of their produce by ensuring finance against their produce stored in registered warehouses and would also have significance for commodity trading, banking and insurance sectors by providing safeguards against risks inherent in lending against commodities. The farmers can also obtain finance against NWRs. By depositing their produce in a registered warehouse and obtaining NWR, farmers can use it s collateral for obtaining short-term borrowing for their working capital requirement for the current sowing seasons from banks. When the price of the stored produce becomes higher, the farmers can sell the same, repay the loan and get a surplus income.

Apart from the individual farmers, private sector organizations, cooperative Societies and self-help groups (SHGs) will also be able to assist their members particularly small and marginal farmers by aggregating their surplus produce and keeping the same in registered warehouse and the individual farmers can be finance by the Cooperative body of SHG. An established NWR system will also act as in incentive for farmers to produce goods of quality and specification amenable to standardization and storage in registered warehouses.



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