‘State to strengthen market intervention to tackle price rise of rice’

As part of the State’s market intervention method to check the spiralling price of rice, the State government has decided to ensure the supply of boiled rice and raw rice at 50:50 percent ratio.

Addressing the media here on Saturday, the Food and Civil Supplies Minister G.R. Anil, said though the supply of boiled rice and raw rice was at 50:50 per cent ratio through the Food Corporation of India (FCI) till last month, now the supply of raw rice is around 75 per cent and there was a subsequent drop in the share of boiled rice to 25 per cent.

This will lead to a price rise of boiled rice in the State, said Mr. Anil. Further, the State has issued an order to provide 8 kg of rice at a special rate of ₹10.9 for priority card holders (Blue and white ration cards) from November 1 as part of the strengthening of the market intervention. The State government has also held consultations with FCI general manager to avoid delay in supplying the rice allotted for the State under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) scheme, said the Minister.

The State requires around 40 lakhs tonnes of rice for its domestic consumption a year. The domestic production is 4.6 lakhs tonne and the Central’s government share is 8.35 lakhs tonne. The Supplyco outlets have been selling an average of 87,168 tonnes rice at subsidised rate a year, while the rest of the rice required for consumption is sold by the public market. The State has also been spending around ₹1,044 crore to provide 4.6 lakhs tonne domestically produced rice at subsidised rate of ₹10.9 per kg through the ration shops under the public distribution system, said the Minister.