2024-05-02 01:53:42
New Delhi: To provide relief to the common people from food inflation, the Central Government had started the sale of Bharat Atta and Bharat Rice through NAFED, Kendriya Bhandar and NCCF. So far 5.6 lakh tonnes of rice has been sold under the Bharat Rice brand. At the same time, 9 lakh 60 thousand tonnes of wheat has been used in Bharat Atta. The sale of Bharat Rice in 5 and 10 kg bags was started from February 6 this year at the price of Rs 29 per kg. Sources said that Food Corporation of India, the nodal agency for government procurement of grains, had fixed the allocation of a total of 15 lakh tonnes of rice for Bharat Rice. The three agencies have procured 7.1 lakh tonnes of rice from FCI, of which so far 5.6 lakh tonnes have been sold under the Bharat Rice brand. FCI had fixed the total allocation of 15 lakh tonnes of wheat for Bharat Atta. The three agencies have so far taken 9 lakh 60 thousand tonnes of wheat from FCI. Through these three agencies, the government is selling Bharat flour at the price of Rs 27.5 per kg.
Government purchase of 196 lakh tonnes of wheat
FCI CMD Ashok K Meena said that till now we have purchased 196 lakh tonnes of wheat. This is more than the annual requirement of 186 lakh tonnes for the government’s welfare schemes. We have estimated procurement of 300-310 lakh tonnes and are on track to achieve this. This will help in strengthening the buffer stock and controlling prices if needed. According to sources, to increase procurement, government procurement can be done in some states like UP this time even after May. So far, 61 lakh tonnes of wheat has been purchased in Haryana, which is equal to the total purchase of last year.
a lot of buying going on
Government procurement of 93 lakh tonnes has been done so far in Punjab and a total purchase of around 130 lakh tonnes is expected. However, so far around 35 lakh tonnes have been procured in Madhya Pradesh. Last year till now about 56 lakh tonnes had been purchased. Sources said that so far 5.6 lakh tonnes have been purchased in UP, which is about two and a half times more than last year’s total purchase. Last year, more than 100 lakh tonnes of wheat was sold to flour mills and other industries through the Open Market Sale Scheme to control prices.