FCI, the nodal agency for foodgrains procurement and distribution, had 20.4 million tonnes of rice and 29.8 million tonnes of wheat in its storage facilities as of September 1, a senior official said.

As per government norms, the FCI should have 26.2 million tonnes of wheat and rice available in its buffer stock as of October 1. This includes 5 million tonnes of strategic reserves.

The Centre has created a strategic reserve of three million tonnes of wheat and two million tonnes of rice over- and-above the normal buffer stock.

The government is sitting on a huge foodgrains stocks and is grappling with a storage problem. It is also not allowing exports of wheat and non-basmati rice due to high food inflation and to meet the requirement of foodgrains for the proposed National Food Security Act........Click for more

Source Web Page: Business Standard