Lok Sabha Question No. 827 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-04
Subject: Measures to Stablize Food Availability
Ministry: FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES
Asked by: Shri Manickam Tagore B

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 827

ANSWERED ON 04 TH  DECEMBER, 2025

## MEASURES TO STABLIZE FOOD AVAILABILITY

## 827. SHRI MANICKAM TAGORE B:

Will the Minister of FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  is  implementing  immediate  measures  to  stabilize  food availability nationwide in view of persistent supply-chain failures causing price spikes, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government would introduce emergency price caps or subsidies to address rising food prices, if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  the  Government  is  protecting  food-processing  raw  materials  from  climate shocks such as droughts and floods, if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether there is a national policy to ensure sufficient skilled labour to address critical labour shortages and an ageing workforce in food processing, if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) whether the Government is promoting Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and blockchain in food processing sector nationwide to enhance efficiency and safety, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons for lagging behind global standards?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES (SHRI RAVNEET SINGH)

(a): As per the information provided by Department of Food and Public Distribution, Ministry of  Consumer  Affairs,  Food  and  Public  Distribution,  in  order  to  manage  the  overall  food security  and  to  prevent  hoarding  and  unscrupulous  speculation,  the  Government  of  India imposed  stock  limits  on  wheat  applicable  to  Traders/Wholesalers,  Retailers,  Big  Chain Retailers  and  Processors  in  all  States  and  Union  Territories.  The  Removal  of  Licensing Requirements, Stock Limits and Movement Restrictions on Specified Foodstuffs (Amendment) Order, 2025 was issued on 27 May 2025 and was applicable for all States and Union Territories.

As  part  of  continuous  efforts  to  moderate  prices  of  wheat,  Central  Government has revised  the  Wheat  Stock  limit  on  26  August  2025  applicable  until  31 st March  2026  as under:

| Entities           | Revised Wheat Stock Limit                                                                                                                                                                                      |
|--------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Trader/ Wholesaler | 2000MT ;                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| Retailer           | 8MT for each Retail outlet                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| Big Chain Retailer | upto 8 MT for each retail outlet subject to maximum quantity of (8 multiplied by total no. of outlets) MT. This will be the maximum stock that can be held at all their retail outlets and depots put together |
| Processor          | 60% of Monthly Installed Capacity (MIC) multiplied by remaining months of FY 2025-26                                                                                                                           |

(b): Department  of  Consumer  Affairs  monitors  the  daily  prices  of  38  essential  food commodities submitted by the 555 price monitoring centres that have been set up, with Central assistance, by the State Governments and UT Administrations across the country. The daily report of prices and indicative price trends are duly analysed for taking appropriate decisions such as release of stocks from the buffer, stock disclosure by stockholding entities, imposition of stock limits, changes in trade policy instruments like rationalisation of import duty, changes in  import  quota,  restrictions  on  exports  of  the  commodity  etc.  Inter-Ministerial  Committee (IMC) reviews and deliberates, on regular basis, the situation of prices and price trends of essential agri-horticulture commodities and suggests measures to enhance availability through increased domestic production and through imports.

Further, in order to ensure accessibility and availability of foodgrains for vulnerable section of the society, the Government decided to provide free foodgrains to about 81.35 crore beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) for a period of next five years with effect from 1st January, 2024, as per their entitlement (i.e. 35 kg of foodgrains per month per Antyodaya Anna Yojana  (AAY) household and 5 kg of foodgrains per person per month in case of Priority Household).

(c): The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance  Scheme  (RWBCIS)  a  flagship  scheme  of  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  Farmers Welfare,  launched  in  2016  with  the  objective  to  protect  farmers  from  crop  loss  due  to unforeseen natural calamities from pre-sowing to post harvest and to provide adequate financial support to farmers in the event of loss of crops.

(d): Under  the  Capacity  Building  component  of  the  PM  Formalization  of  Micro  Food Processing  Enterprises  Scheme,  Ministry  of  Food  Processing  Industries  (MoFPI)  provides assistance for training of Trainers, District Resource Persons, Entrepreneurs and various other groups for Entrepreneurship Development Skilling (EDP+) & product specific skilling to meet the requirement of food processing industry. So far, 1,26,353 beneficiaries have been trained across the country under the PMFME scheme till 30.10.2025.

MoFPI through its  two  autonomous  Institutions  namely,  National  Institute  of  Food Technology  Entrepreneurship  &  Management,  Kundli,  Haryana  (NIFTEM-K)  &  National Institute  of  Food  Technology  Entrepreneurship  &  Management,  Thanjavur,  Tamil  Nadu (NIFTEM-T) also facilitates high skilled manpower, through educational courses like B.Tech, M.Tech, Ph.D, etc. in food processing sector.

(e): In order to promote use of technology including Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things and blockchain adoption in Food  Processing Sector, MoFPI extends Grant-in-Aid to educational  and  research  institutions  including  Council  of  Scientific  &  Industrial  Research (CSIR)  recognized  Research  and  Development  (R&D)  units  in  private  sector  for  related demand  driven  R&D  projects  through  its  R&D  scheme  under  Pradhan  Mantri  Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY).

Under  R&D  component  of  the  Scheme,  financial  assistance  as  grant-in-aid  is provided  to  Private  organizations/  universities/institutions/R&D  laboratories  and  CSIR recognized R&D units in private sector to the tune of 50% of equipment cost in general areas and  70%  in  difficult  areas  and  to  various  Universities,  IITs,  Central/  State  Government Institutions,  Government  funded  organizations  to  promote  and  undertake  demand  driven R&D  work  in  food  processing  sector  for  product  &  process  development,  design  and development of equipment, improved storage, shelf-life, packaging etc. R&D projects of Government organizations/  Institutions  are  eligible  for  100%  grant-in-aid  for  the  cost  of equipment, consumables and expenditure related to Research Fellows, etc.

In addition, National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship & Management (NIFTEM) Kundli and NIFTEM, Thanjavur, under administrative control of MoFPI, are also engaged in R&D activities in the sector.

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