An Imperative Institutional Innovation for Addressing Issues of Agricultural Marketing — A Case Study of Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority

To regulate and promote the growth of warehousing in India along with introduction of Negotiable Warehouse Receipt (NWR) system, an institution called Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA) was established in the country in 2010. This paper has examined the role of WDRA, its initiatives taken for accreditation and popularizing NWR system in the country. It has also examined the progress made in pledge finance with the institution of WDRA and NWR system. Since its inception, WDRA has accredited over 400 warehouses and the country has witnessed remarkable growth in pledge finance. The WDRA has involved agencies from public, private and cooperative sectors for accreditation. It has notified 141 agricultural commodities for issuance of NWRs till July 2014. The state of Andhra Pradesh has been studied in more details in terms of issuing of NWRs for availing finance. The study has given some suggestions for policy formulation also to promote warehousing in the country.