Govt says sufficient foodgrain stocks under central pool

New Delhi [India], December 15 : In a response to a report which said that India's December wheat stocks fell to a six-year low and that it lifted prices, the government on Thursday said it has sufficient foodgrain stocks under the central pool to meet the requirement of National Food Security Act (NFSA) and its Other Welfare Schemes as well as for the additional allocation of PMGKAY.
According to a statement from the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution, about 159 lakh million tonne (lmt) of wheat will be available as on January 1, 2023, which is well above the buffer norm requirement of 138 lmt of January 1. As on December 12 2022, around 182 lmt of wheat is available in the central pool.
The government said it was well aware of the price scenario of wheat and was constantly monitoring it regularly on weekly basis along with other commodities and taking corrective measures, as and when required. The government said it has taken proactive steps to ward off any further price rise and export regulations were imposed with effect from May 5, 2022. Further, the allocations under NFSA as well as Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) have also been revised in favour of rice for having sufficient Wheat stock in Central Pool to cater to the requirements of Welfare Schemes, the ministry said.
The government said it has enhanced the MSP of wheat crop this year to Rs 2,125 per quintal against the last year's minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 2,015/qtl for rabi marketing season (RMS) 2022-23. Thus, increase in MSP of Rs 110/qtl coupled with fairly good climatic conditions, it is expected that the production and procurement of wheat during the next season shall remain normal, according to the statement. Procurement of wheat next season would commence from April 2023 and as per initial assessment, there has been a fair increase in the sowing of the wheat crop as compared to last year.
The government in the statement said it ensured that sufficient stock of foodgrains is available in the central pool to meet the requirement of all the Welfare Schemes across the country and prices remain under control. According to the ministry statement, though procurement of wheat during last season was on the lower side due to lesser production coupled with selling by farmers at prices higher than MSP in the open market consequent to the geo-political situation, yet enough stock of wheat will still be available in a central pool to cater to the needs of the country till the time next wheat crop arrives.