Adani Bags FCI’s Silo Contracts; India Reduces Urea Requirement

June

2026

Adani Agri Logistics Ltd (AALL) and Leap India Food & Logistics Private Ltd together bagged 110 out of 134 grain silo contracts worth more than USD 1.7B in the Food Corporation of India’s (FCI) USD 2B silo program, which was supposed to overhaul India’s foodgrain storage for the Public Distribution System. Around 4.65 MMT of grains, of the total 6 MMT, will now be stored in silos owned by these two companies. FCI had initially proposed an ‘anti-monopoly’ clause to prevent a single company from cornering the projects. However, in 2022, NITI Aayog (earlier the Planning Commission) and the Department of Economic Affairs opposed the restriction, leading to the clause being dropped, allowing the Adani Group to expand across multiple states without restrictions. AALL now operates grain storage facilities across Panjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu. The company operates 26 Advanced Grain Terminals with a total capacity of 1.45 MMT, and has 64 more sites under development that will bring total capacity to 4 MMT. FCI, however, rejected allegations of favoritism and promotion of monopoly in the award of silo projects, asserting that the tendering process was transparent and conducted in accordance with established procurement norms. The Farmers’ Protest 1.0, 2020–21—which farmers won by forcing the government to repeal the three farm laws that would have enabled private players to control the agriculture sector—opposed the privatization of the agriculture sector. Farmers had then flagged the monopolization of agriculture in India by the Adani Group, similar to the monopolization of agriculture in the US by Monsanto and other private players. Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture and Family Welfare has cut back its requirements for urea from 19.4 MMT to 19 MMT and for Diammonium Phosphate from 5.9 MMT to 5.6 MMT. Additional Secretary, Department of Fertilisers, Aparna Sharma said, ‘Due to the El Niño effect, the Indian Meteorological Department forecast that monsoons are expected to be lower; therefore, we requested the Department of Agriculture and Family Welfare for re-assessment of fertilizer for the monsoon season.’ Meanwhile, farmers from Faridkot district have offered to transfer money via UPI to thieves stealing tubewell motors. The desperate measure follows an overnight raid in which thieves stole 25 motors from village fields (earlier coverage).