Lok Sabha Question No. 886 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-02-07
Subject: Price Stabilization Fund
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Shrikant Eknath Shinde, Krishna Pal Singh Yadav, Unmesh Bhaiyyasaheb Patil, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Sujay Radhakrishna Vikhepatil, Heena Vijaykumar Gavit

## Government of India Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

## Department of Consumer Affairs

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.886

TO BE ANSWERED ON 07.02.2024

## PRICE STABILIZATION FUND

886. DR.  SHRIKANT  EKNATH  SHINDE:  DR.  KRISHNA  PAL  SINGH  YADAV:  SHRI  UNMESH BHAIYYASAHEB  PATIL:  PROF.  RITA  BAHUGUNA  JOSHI:  DR.  SUJAY  RADHAKRISHNA VIKHE PATIL: DR. HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT:

Will  the  Minister  of CONSUMER AFFAIRS,  FOOD  AND  PUBLIC  DISTRIBUTION miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k ea=h be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  on  the  utilization  of  the  Price  Stabilization  Fund  (PSF)  since  its  inception  in  2014-15, specifically focusing on the inflationary trend of commodities for which buffer stock has been created;
- (b) the details of the agencies involved in maintaining the stock including fund allocation by agencies to different States/Union Territories;
- (c) the  measures  taken  by  the  Ministry  to  enhance  the  efficiency  of  the  Price  Stabilization  Fund, especially during Covid;
- (d) the number of households that benefitted from this initiative; and
- (e) the total quantity of pulses distributed?

## ANSWER

## miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k jkT; ea=h ( श्री अश्विनी कु मार चौबे )

## THE MINISTER OF STATE CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

(a)  &  (b)  :  Price  Stabilization  Fund  (PSF)  has  been  set  up  in  2014-15  to  mitigate  the  hardship  faced  by consumers due to price  volatility  in  agri-horticultural  commodities.  The  PSF  has  been  utilised  majorly  for creation  of  pulses  (Tur,  Urad,  Moong,  Masur  and  Chana)  and  onion  buffers  by  procuring  stocks  for subsequent market interventions to make these commodities available to consumers at affordable prices. PSF is  also  used  for  undertaking  market  interventions  in  commodities  such  as  tomato  and  potato  during exceptional volatility in prices.

In recent time, when prices of tomato surged during July and August, 2023 due white fly infestation and adverse weather condition, tomatoes were procured under PSF from source markets and made it available to  retail  consumers  in  high  price  regions  at  subsidised  rates  through  the  National  Cooperative  Consumers Federation  (NCCF)  and  National  Agricultural  Cooperative  Marketing  Federation  (NAFED).  Through  the intervention, the retail prices of tomato were brought down to normal level by first half of September, 2023.

In order to check the seasonal volatility in prices of onion, buffer stock is maintained under the PSF to make onions available to consumers at affordable prices during lean season. The onion procurement target for buffer  in  2023-24  has  been  raised  to  7.00  LMT  from  2.50  LMT  in  2022-23.  Procurement  of  onions  from farmers since June, 2023 has been continuing till date and the total procured as on date is 6.30 LMT. The procured  onions  have  been  continuously  release  through  retail  sales,  e-Nam  auction  and  bulk  sales  in wholesale  markets.  Onion  buffer  operations  under  PSF  have  helped  in  moderating  the  annual  seasonal volatility in prices.

To make dals available to consumers at affordable prices, Bharat Dal has been launched in July, 2023 by  converting  Chana  stock  in  the  PSF  into  Chana  dal  for  retail  disposal.  The  Bharat  Chana  Dal  is  made available to the consumers at subsidized rates of Rs.60 per kg for 1 kg pack and Rs.55 per kg for 30 kg pack. About  2.97  LMT  of  Bharat  Chana  Dal  has  been  sold  to  retail  consumers  which  constitute  about  25%  of household consumption of Chana Dal. The Bharat Dal has been extended to include Moong Dal by converting Moong  stock  in  the  PSF  buffer  into  Moong  Dal  and  Moong  Sabut  for  retail  sale  to  the  consumers  at subsidized prices of Rs.107 per kg and Rs.93 per kg, respectively.

The  Central  Nodal  Agencies  for  procuring  and  maintaining  stocks  under  the  PSF  are  National Agricultural  Cooperative  Marketing  Federation  (NAFED),  National  Cooperative  Consumers  Federation (NCCF), Food Corporation of  India  (FCI),  Small  Framers  Agri  Business  Consortium  (SFAC),  Metals  and Minerals  Trading  Corporation  (MMTC)  and  State  Trading  Corporation  (STC).  Apart  from  Central  Nodal Agencies, seven States have set up their own State-level Price Stabilisation Fund Corpus (SLPSF) and availed support from Central PSF Corpus in the form of interest free working capital advance to the extent of 50% (75% for NE States) of their contribution to the State-level PSF Corpus. Details of Central Nodal Agencywise and State-wise funds released from the PSF are given at Annexure .

(c)  to  (e)  :  Pulses  from  the  PSF  buffer  were  utilised  to  ensure  availability  of  nutritional  food  to  the beneficiaries of National Food Security Act, 2013 (NSFA, 2013) and stranded migrant workers during Covid19  pandemic.  In  pursuance  to  the  announcement  made  under  Pradhan  Mantri  Garib  Kalyan  Anna  Yojana (PMGKAY) Package as part of Economic Response to COVID-19, the Department of Consumer Affairs had provisioned pulses out of the PSF buffer for distribution @1kg per household per month, free of cost, to 19.4 crore beneficiary Households covered under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA), initially for three months - April to June, 2020. Thereafter, the distribution of pulses under PMGKAY was extended for another five months, i.e., July to November, 2020 under which Chana Whole from the PSF buffer was distributed, free of  cost,  to  NSFA  beneficiary  households  @1kg  per  household.  Further,  under  the  AtmaNirbhar  Bharat (ANB), Chana Whole from the PSF buffer was provided to States/UTs for distribution to stranded migrant workers for a period of two months May and June, 2020, free of cost, @1kg per 1kg per household per month. A total of 14.42 lakh tons of processed pulses from the PSF buffer was distributed, free of cost, to about 20.17 crore households during the Covid-19 pandemic.

## ANNEXURE

## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  &  (b)  OF  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 886 FOR 07.02.2024 REGARDING PRICE STABILIZATION FUND.

## Central Nodal Agency-wise and State-wise funds released from the PSF

| Sl. No.   | Agency/State           | Amount (Rs. in crore)   |
|-----------|------------------------|-------------------------|
| A.        | Central Nodal Agencies |                         |
| 1         | NAFED                  | 44,559.21               |
| 2         | SFAC                   | 754.20                  |
| 3         | FCI                    | 1,574.28                |
| 4         | MMTC                   | 2,611.54                |
| 5         | STC                    | 42.81                   |
| 6         | NCCF                   | 3,119.41                |
|           | Total-A                | 52,661.44               |
| B.        | State-level PSF        |                         |
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh         | 50.00                   |
| 2         | West Bengal            | 2.50                    |
| 3         | Telangana              | 9.15                    |
| 4         | Odisha                 | 25.00                   |
| 5         | Tamil Nadu             | 2.50                    |
| 6         | Assam                  | 75.00                   |
| 7         | Nagaland               | 37.50                   |
|           | Total-B                | 201.65                  |
| C.        | Grand Total (A+B)      | 52,863.09               |