New Delhi, Feb 22 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate and lay the foundation of multiple initiatives to strengthen the country's Cooperative Sector on February 24 at Bharat Mandapam in the national capital which will be a major step in empowering small farmers, the PMO said on Thursday.

The Prime Minister will inaugurate the pilot project of 'World's Largest Grain Storage Plan in Cooperative Sector', which is being done in 11 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) of 11 states, the PMO statement noted.

PM Modi will also lay the foundation for an additional 500 PACS across the country for the construction of godowns and other agricultural infrastructure as part of the scheme. The initiative aims to seamlessly integrate PACS godowns with the foodgrain supply chain, fortifying food security and fostering economic development in the country with a collaborative effort supported by NABARD and spearheaded by the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC).

The initiative is being implemented through the convergence of various existing schemes like the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), Agriculture Marketing Infrastructure (AMI), etc. to enable PACS participating in the project to avail subsidies and interest subvention benefits for undertaking infrastructure development.

The Prime Minister will also inaugurate the project for computerization in 18,000 PACS across the country, aligning with the government's vision of "Sahakar se Samridhi" aimed at rejuvenating the cooperative sector and empowering small and marginal farmers, the PMO statement said.

The monumental project has been approved with a financial outlay of more than Rs 2,500 crore. This initiative involves transitioning all functional PACS onto a unified Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) based national software, ensuring seamless integration and connectivity. By linking these PACS with NABARD through State Cooperative Banks and District Central Cooperative Banks, the project aims to enhance the operation efficiency and governance of PACS, thus benefiting crores of small and marginal farmers.

NABARD has developed the National Level Common Software for this project, tailored to meet the diverse needs of PACS across the country.

Onboarding of 18,000 PACS on ERP software has been completed, marking a significant milestone in the project's implementation.