Govt says sufficient wheat grains available to meet demands
Dec 15, 2022
New Delhi [India], December 15 : The government has sufficient food grain stocks under the central pool to meet the requirement of the food security program, additional allocation from PMGKAY, and other welfare schemes.
About 159 lakh tonnes of wheat will be available at the start of January 2023, which would be well above the buffer norm requirement of 138 lakh tonne, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution
said in a statement on Thursday. As on December 12, 2022, around 182 lakh tonnes of wheat is available in the central pool.
On the price front, the ministry's statement said the government is well aware of the price scenario of wheat and is constantly monitoring it regularly on weekly basis along with other commodities and taking corrective measures, as and when required.
"Government of India has taken proactive steps to ward off any further price rise and export regulations were imposed with effect from 13.05.2022. Further, the allocations under NFSA as well as PMGKAY have also been revised in favor of rice for having sufficient wheat stock in the central pool to cater to the requirements of welfare schemes," the statement said.
Further, the ministry said though the procurement of wheat from farmers 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, enough stock of the staple food grain will still be available till the time next wheat crop arrives.
