About $6.8 billion worth of food goes to waste every year in India because of inadequate storage facilities, according to FOX News.
Agriculture minister, Sharad Pawar, said on Friday, that large amounts of food grains, fruits and vegetables are being thrown away. The total wastage of cereals, fruits and vegetables adds up to 440 billion rupees ($6.8 billion) a year.
The country's storage requirement was 61.3 million tons against the current capacity of around 29 million tons, a report commissioned last year.
"The present gap is around 32 million tons," said Pawar, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.
During the agricultural year of 2012-2013, food grain production was estimated to have reached a record of 255.4 million tons. According to FOX News, analysts said the government does not have the warehousing facilities to store that amount produce.
Officials are looking into varies steps to encourage the formation of a new storage capacity. According to FOX News, a new storage capacity is in works as Congress starts a massive new food program to feed to the poor and lower income families.
The Food Security law, which the government is attempting to steer through parliament, will offer subsidized grains to nearly 70 percent of the population, or more than 800 million people.
Cold storage facilities, or refrigerated warehouses, are particularly lacking in India. Pawar said foreign investment in India's retail sector would help in developing back-end cold storage infrastructure in the country.
According to FOX News, nearly two-thirds of India's 1.2 billion population still depends on agriculture for their livelihood. The government is considered the country's biggest purchaser of produce through its centralized procurement system.
Prime Minister Manmohan said despite the fast economic growth India has received through the years, the country still struggles with endemic malnutrition which affects more than 40 percent of children. Manmohan described the situation as a "national shame."
FOX News reported Singh's government allowed foreign supermarkets to establish 51 percent joint ventures in the country in September last year, and this month rules were relaxed further to encourage investment.
