New Delhi, Apr 7 (IANS): Union minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday asked the Central Warehouse Corporation (CWC) to double its storage capacity by 2023 and achieve a turnover of Rs 10,000 crore by the FY 2024-25.

Goyal, the Minister of Railways, Commerce & Industry, and Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, reviewed the modernisation plan of the CWC and directed it to increase its storage capacity to 25 million tonnes from the presently 12.5 million tonnes.

In the review meeting, Goyal said that the tariff rationalisation and setting of warehouses should be done independently by the CWC without any bureaucratic interference, adding that the maximum power of decision making for operations should be delegated to the CWC.

He also asked the CWC to focus on building cold chain storage facilities in the country on a priority basis. Goyal instructed the CWC to conduct safety audit for fire, earthquake, burglary and accidents in all its warehouses regularly.

He further said that the CWC should build modern silos for wheat and rice storage all over the country, so that maximum grains could be stored for longer periods.

Goyal also said that the CWC should build more cold chain facilities for storing onion, potato and tomato in coordination with the NAFED.

The Union minister suggested that the CWC should prepare a masterplan for upgradation of all its 423 warehouses. The CWC should do a warehouse/storage gap analysis for agricultural produce and accordingly prepare plans with the help of architects and experts, he said.

The minister further said that the CWC should work in a mission mode for taking care of all the stakeholders, i.e., staff, clients, workers, truck drivers etc.