Lok Sabha Question No. 490 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-06-25
Subject: Additional Stock in Warehouses
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Shrikant Eknath Shinde, Pritam Gopinath Munde, Shrirang Appa Barne

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 490

TO BE ANSWERED ON 25 th  JUNE, 2019

## ADDITIONAL STOCK IN WAREHOUSES

490. DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE:

DR. PRITAMGOPINATHRAO MUNDE:

SHRI SRIRANGA APPA BARNE:

Will  the  Minister  of  CONSUMER  AFFAIRS,  FOOD  AND  PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION उपभोक्ता त मल , ाखतद्ा औा तावर्ज�ाका्औता  मं be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  massive  stocks  are  piled  up  in  warehouses/godowns across the country;
- (b) if so, the quantum of additional stocks piled up in warehouses/godowns of Food Corporation of India;
- (c) the additional cost being borne by the Food Corporation of India on handling the additional stocks;
- (d) whether there is any proposal under consideration of the Government to offer extra subsidised foodgrain to the beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA); and
- (e) if so, the time by which a final decision is likely to be taken in this regard?

## A N S W E R

## MINISTER OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI RAMVILAS PASWAN)

- (a) & (b): In  the  present  system  of  open-ended  procurement,  FCI  is obligated to buy all foodgrain that farmers offer  to  sell  at  the  prescribed Minimum  Support  Price  (MSP)  as  long  as  the  foodgrain  meets  a  certain quality  standard.   As  a  result,  with  the  constantly  increasing  MSP  and foodgrain production over the years, the procurement by the FCI has been rising  continuously. The  stock  of  foodgrains  in  the  Central  Pool  as  on  1 st June, 2019 was 741.41 lakh tons consisting of 275.81 lakh tons of rice and 465.60  lakh  tons  of  wheat.  As  on  1 st   April  2019,  the  actual  stock  of foodgrain  in  the  central  pool  was  463.86  LMT  vis-a-vis  210.40  LMT  as envisaged in the Foodgrain Stocking Norms.

........2/-

(c): The annual carryover cost borne by Food Corporation of India is Rs.29.56 crore per LMT in respect of wheat and Rs. 41.21 crore per LMT in respect of rice.

(d) & (e): Government  enacted  National  Food  Security  Act  (NFSA)  in July, 2013 which gives legal entitlement to 67% of the population (75% in rural areas and 50% in urban areas) to receive highly subsidized foodgrains. Under  the  Act,  foodgrains  is  allocation  @  5  kg  per  person  per  month  for priority  households  category  and  @  35  kg  per  family  per  month  for  AAY families at a highly subsidized prices of Rs. 1/-, Rs. 2/- and Rs. 3/- per kg for nutri-cereals, wheat and rice respectively. Coverage under the Act is based on the population figures of Census, 2011. The Act is now  being implemented in all 36 States/UTs and covers about 81.35 crore persons.

The  annual  allocation  of  foodgrain  under  National  Food  Security Act and Other Welfare Schemes is about 610 Lakh Metric Tons. In order to liquidate the excess stock of foodgrain in the Central Pool, Government of India  avails  the  available  options  of  disposal  of  the  excess  stock  of foodgrain through Open Market Sale Scheme and Export on Government-toGovernment basis, as export from public stockholding is not compliant to WTO norms.'

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