NEW DELHI: The government is struggling to find storage space for expected rice stocks before procurement season starts this month, as granaries are overflowing and there is no plan to reduce stock.“Storage is a big problem for us,” said a senior food ministry official, who did not wish to be identified. “Most of the procurement for the central pool happens in Punjab and Haryana, where godowns are brimming with grain. Since rice needs covered storage, unlike wheat that can be kept in makeshift plinth storage, there is a need to liquidate old stock to create space.”Data from the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the agency that buys grains for the central pool for public distribution and other welfare schemes, shows the combined stock of rice and wheat at more than 71 million tonnes (mt), apart from 8 mt of unmilled paddy – the highest for August. This is almost three times the minimum stock needed to run welfare schemes.National storage capacity is around 88 mt — 75 mt covered and 13 mt covered area plinth (CAP). “Around 75% of wheat procured from Punjab is stocked under CAP, which is partly exposed to rains and weather.This time, more wheat will be exposed to rains as we expect heavy procurement,” said the official.The liquidation of stock has become even more important as the cost of storage for FCI is increasing year by year. “FCI spent Rs 3,610 crore for foodgrain storage in 2017-18, which went up to Rs 4,358 crore in 2018-19. Cost is estimated to go up to Rs 5,201 crore in 2019-20. It makes sense to liquidate stock for some welfare programmes,” said another official.In April, open auctions were launched for millers and biscuit manufacturers to dispose of 10 mt wheat and 5 mt rice from FCI godowns.