Permission for deficit states to directly purchase rice from FCI

31-Jul-2024 11:42 AM

New Delhi. The Central Government has approved the deficit states of the country to start direct purchase of rice from its subordinate agency - Food Corporation of India (FCI) from August 1, 2024. For this purchase of rice, the states will not need to participate in the weekly e-auction organized by the Food Corporation under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS).

But this scheme will be called OMSS only. Under this scheme, rice will be made available to the states by FCI at the rate of Rs 2800 per quintal. It is worth noting that last year the Central Government had decided to stop the sale of rice from its stock to other states including Karnataka.

The Food Corporation of India has a huge stock of rice and a huge amount is being spent on its storage and maintenance.

Government procurement of Kharif paddy rice is going to start in October 2024. According to the available data, FCI has a direct stock of 326.80 lakh tonnes of rice while it has to receive additional stock of 128.90 lakh tonnes of rice from rice millers.

With this, the total stock of rice will increase to 455.70 lakh tonnes. According to the prevailing rule, at least 102.50 lakh tonnes of rice stock must be present in the central pool on October 1, while the actual stock will be much more than that and hence the government wants to remove this huge surplus stock.

Under the open market sale scheme, rice will also be sold to bulk buyers through weekly e-auction with a minimum reserve price of Rs 2800 per quintal.

It is worth noting that the government has increased the retail sale price of rice under the Bharat brand but has reduced the reserve price under OMSS.

Receiving rice at the rate of Rs 2800 per quintal from the Food Corporation warehouses will provide special relief to those states where it is supplied separately in PDS.