The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) will soon begin selling rice in 5-kg and 10-kg packs under the Bharat brand. This too will be an effort to reduce the prices of rice in the open market.
The best quality rice is being sold for ₹75-80/kg in the open market and at even ₹90/kg via online platforms. NAFED will sell both boiled and raw rice at ₹29/kg through this initiative.
Koyambedu Wholesale Food Grains Merchant Association’s R. Punnaiappan said retail prices were quite high despite a reduction in wholesale prices. “Raw rice prices are higher than that of boiled rice. In retail, they cannot reduce prices like in wholesale due to the presence of old stock. We hear that paddy was being sent by road to neighbouring countries, and there is a shortage of new crop.”
So far, the Central agency has been selling wheat flour and chana dal to help control the prices of these commodities. Wheat comes in 10-kg bags and 1 kg of flour is priced at ₹27.50. “Since customers are asking for 5-kg bags, NAFED has planned to bring out 5-kg bags soon,” said a source in the federation. It has sold 1,900 tonnes of chana dal or kadalai paruppu at ₹60/kg so far.
The sale of these items are taking place through small autorickshaws and vans, which are selling the commodities at railway stations and bus termini. People can also pick them up at Kendriya Bhandar stores. In some areas, farmers’ producers organisations have also been roped in to sell the Bharat brand items.
Consumer activist T. Sadagopan wanted to know how old this rice would be and the age of the dal being sold.
“As these are packed commodities, consumers have a right to know the complete details about the items. NAFED could also sell different grades of rice, including Basmati,” he added.
