Rice stocks mounting in FCI godowns

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, JAN. 6. Officials of Food Corporation of India (FCI) here are keeping their fingers crossed with the mounting stocks of rice and wheat in their godowns in the southern States.

The per centage of utilisation in the FCI godowns as on Jan. 1 is 100.84 per cent in Tamil Nadu, 106.82 per cent in Kerala, 92.67 per cent in Andhra Pradesh and 90.87 per cent in Karnataka.

With procurement operations picking up in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, officials are perplexed on where to find space to store the excess grains. Apart from rice and wheat, the Corporation is procuring maize in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka from farmers following pressure from these State Governments, according to sources in the Corporation.

In Tamil Nadu, as against the total storage capacity of 10.72 lakh tonnes, the Corporation has about 10.81 lakh tonnes, including 5.81 lakh tonnes of rice. As all its godowns in the State are full, the Corporation has resorted to CAP storage.

In Kerala, the Corporation has a stock of about 5.95 lakh tonnes as against the storage capacity of 5.57 lakh tonnes. In Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, the FCI has a vacant space of about 2.03 lakh tonnes and 0.69 lakh tonnes respectively. Even these space would be stocked in the middle of January.

The Corporation's efforts to liquidate the stocks failed to yield desired results. In August the Corporation offered to sell wheat at Rs 743 a quintal to State Governments, roller flour mills and private traders. But the response for the scheme was poor as the Corporation received orders for less than 5000 tonnes. The main reason for the poor response, the sources said, is the availability of the grain at a lesser price in the open market.

Another reason for the mounting stocks is the poor lifting of their monthly quota of rice by the Southern States. Tamil Nadu, which is entitled to 1.33 lakh tonnes of monthly central quota, is purchasing only 93,000 tonnes, entitled to it under the below the poverty line (BPL) category.

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Section  : Southern States
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