Express News Service
NEW DELHI: The Union government has refused to give in to the demand of southern states to participate in the open market sales scheme (OMSS) of rice and wheat. The Central government has said its primary objective is to control food grain inflation to give relief to the 60 crore population dependent on the market for grains.
The Centre’s decision has put states such as Tamil Nadu and Karnataka on the receiving end. These states needed extra grains to meet the demand of their various schemes and were willing to participate in the open market sales scheme.
The Tamil Nadu government requires extra 20,000 metric tonnes of rice from the Food Corporation of India to support its universal food security programme. Recently, after returning to power, the Congress-led Karnataka government planned to provide free 10 kg rice to the eligible ‘below poverty line’ families under its ambitious Anna Bhagya Programme. For this, Karnataka government required 2.28 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of rice.
Under the National Food Security, the Union government provides cheaper grains to 80 crore people.
“The government’s effort is to provide food grains to the rest of the 60 crore population of the country at a reasonable rate,” said Ashik K Meena, chief managing director, Food Corporation of India. The Central government is concerned about the inflationary trend of grains. After not achieving the procurement target, the government has taken a series of steps to control grain inflation.
Recently, the Centre has put the stock limit on wheat and planned to offload 15 LMT of wheat and 5 LMT of rice to the open market in a bid to bring down the prices. There are 87 LMT of wheat and 292 LMT of rice in stock, which is over and above the buffer requirement.
“In addition to offloading grains through open market sales scheme, we are also considering reducing import duty on wheat,” said Meena. The current import duty on wheat is 40 per cent. The Central government will start offloading 5 LMT of rice into the market from July 5 under the open market sales scheme. The base price of rice will be Rs 3,100 per quintal.
The e-auction of wheat will start on July 1. The government has set a limit of 10 MT to accommodate the small and marginal traders and processors. The bidding is also limited to local buyers by ensuring that only state GST-registered buyers can go for it in their respective states.
Last week, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that around 1.50 lakh metric tonnes of rice is available in Chhattisgarh for the ‘Anna Bhagya’ scheme, but the transportation cost of the rice to Karnataka is high.
The Karnataka Chief Minister’s remark comes amid the state’s continuous attempts to procure rice, after the Central government allegedly stalled the supply of wheat and rice to the state.
NEW DELHI: The Union government has refused to give in to the demand of southern states to participate in the open market sales scheme (OMSS) of rice and wheat. The Central government has said its primary objective is to control food grain inflation to give relief to the 60 crore population dependent on the market for grains.
The Centre’s decision has put states such as Tamil Nadu and Karnataka on the receiving end. These states needed extra grains to meet the demand of their various schemes and were willing to participate in the open market sales scheme.
The Tamil Nadu government requires extra 20,000 metric tonnes of rice from the Food Corporation of India to support its universal food security programme. Recently, after returning to power, the Congress-led Karnataka government planned to provide free 10 kg rice to the eligible ‘below poverty line’ families under its ambitious Anna Bhagya Programme. For this, Karnataka government required 2.28 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of rice.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
Under the National Food Security, the Union government provides cheaper grains to 80 crore people.
“The government’s effort is to provide food grains to the rest of the 60 crore population of the country at a reasonable rate,” said Ashik K Meena, chief managing director, Food Corporation of India. The Central government is concerned about the inflationary trend of grains. After not achieving the procurement target, the government has taken a series of steps to control grain inflation.
Recently, the Centre has put the stock limit on wheat and planned to offload 15 LMT of wheat and 5 LMT of rice to the open market in a bid to bring down the prices. There are 87 LMT of wheat and 292 LMT of rice in stock, which is over and above the buffer requirement.
“In addition to offloading grains through open market sales scheme, we are also considering reducing import duty on wheat,” said Meena. The current import duty on wheat is 40 per cent. The Central government will start offloading 5 LMT of rice into the market from July 5 under the open market sales scheme. The base price of rice will be Rs 3,100 per quintal.
The e-auction of wheat will start on July 1. The government has set a limit of 10 MT to accommodate the small and marginal traders and processors. The bidding is also limited to local buyers by ensuring that only state GST-registered buyers can go for it in their respective states.
Last week, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that around 1.50 lakh metric tonnes of rice is available in Chhattisgarh for the ‘Anna Bhagya’ scheme, but the transportation cost of the rice to Karnataka is high.
The Karnataka Chief Minister’s remark comes amid the state’s continuous attempts to procure rice, after the Central government allegedly stalled the supply of wheat and rice to the state.
