Over the year between 2018-19 and 2019-20, the foodgrain production rose by 4.3%, going from 2852.09 lakh ton to 2974.04 lakh ton, and the storage capacity in the same period fell by 11.65%: from 855.68 metric ton (2019) to 755.94 metric ton (2020). 

On an average, the FCI (Food Corporation of India) used 85% of its available storage space in 2019, which fell from 88% in 2018. FCI states that it spent ₹2683.84/quintal on Rabi crops and ₹3726.76/quintal on Kharif crops in 2020-21. It received over ₹1.25 lakh crore in subsidy as on October 2021. 

At present, the storage capacity of 755.94 Lakh metric ton is only 25% of India’s total production capacity of foodgrain at 2975.04 lakh metric ton (LMT).

India Is World’s Most Food Abundant Country, Still Going Hungry 

In August this year, the report on State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) said that between 2018-20, food insecurity in India increased by 6.8 percentage points, and this contrasted sharply  with the fact that as of July 2021, India had the largest food stocks in the world. 

The Global Hunger Index recently ranked India 101 in 116 countries, worse than 94 in 117 countries in 2020. 

A study by National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) in 2020 claimed that India faces losses of around 4.6-6% in cereals and 4.6-15.9% in fruits and vegetables which is attributable to lack of proper storage facilities.