NEW DELHI: Rice inventory with govt is ready to the touch round 300 lakh tonnes on November 1. That is the best inventory with the Meals Company of India (FCI) within the final 20 years, as per information out there on its web site.
Officers mentioned the large inventory is a matter and liquidating this stockpile is a problem whilst the government allowed states to take further rice instantly from the FCI for their very own schemes and sale of 23 lakh tonnes of the grain to ethanol distilleries.
In keeping with out there information, the FCI had a stockpile of 299 lakh tonnes of rice and one other 13 lakh tonnes receivable from millers. As per govt’s buffer norms, the company must hold 102.5 lakh tonnes as inventory to satisfy the meals safety scheme and different welfare programmes of govt as on Oct 1.
The rice inventory has elevated because of increased procurement by govt companies. Furthermore, the Centre had stopped the sale of rice to states from the central pool final 12 months and banned the export of non-basmati white rice, apart from imposing obligation on the outbound cargo of white and parboiled rice to deal with meals inflation and poor rainfall.
Solely prior to now three months, govt took a number of choices, together with permitting states to purchase rice from FCI, permitting export of non-basmati white rice and elimination of export obligation on parboiled rice.
In the meantime, the meals ministry has mentioned paddy procurement was beneath means in full swing in Punjab and Haryana, the 2 main meals bowls of the nation, and like yearly 185 lakh and 60 lakh tonnes of paddy would seemingly be procured from the states, in the course of the present kharif advertising season.
