Food grain stock in central pool rises to above 738 lakh tonnes

16-May-2025 07:24 PM

New Delhi. Owing to strong procurement of wheat and stable purchases of rice, the food grain stock in India’s central pool increased to 738.19 lakh tonnes as of 1 May 2025. This marks a sharp rise of 238.16 lakh tonnes compared to 500.03 lakh tonnes in April 2025.

During this period, the stock of rice saw a slight dip from 382.09 lakh tonnes to 381.47 lakh tonnes. However, the wheat stock surged significantly from 117.94 lakh tonnes in April to 356.72 lakh tonnes in May.

A year earlier, on 1 May 2024, the total central pool food grain stock stood at 578.62 lakh tonnes, including 319.07 lakh tonnes of rice and 259.55 lakh tonnes of wheat.

Official data shows that while the stock of rice dipped from 371.51 lakh tonnes in April to 318.73 lakh tonnes in early May, it remained higher than the 283.33 lakh tonnes recorded on the same date last year. The regular supply of rice to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) is being maintained through custom milling of paddy.

The stock of coarse grains in the central pool rose from 1.31 lakh tonnes in April to 3.16 lakh tonnes in May, although it remained lower than the 4.57 lakh tonnes held on 1 May 2024.

Wheat procurement for the current Rabi marketing season has crossed 290 lakh tonnes, with the procurement process still underway.

This exceeds the total of 266 lakh tonnes procured during the previous season, which had seen supply disruptions. The government had procured 262 lakh tonnes of wheat in 2023 and 188 lakh tonnes in 2022.

While rice procurement has been relatively stable, the government has implemented new policies to reduce the large existing stock. States have been allowed to lift rice from FCI warehouses without participating in auctions.

Additionally, a subsidy was offered to ethanol producers, allowing them to purchase rice stock at ₹2,250 per quintal. Initially, a quota of 24 lakh tonnes was approved for ethanol use, which was later increased to 52 lakh tonnes.