The price of rice had fallen in the last week, said Union Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra, countering the Kerala government’s stand that the prices had increased after the Centre’s decision to discontinue the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY).
Talking to reporters here on Thursday, Mr. Chopra also said that the Centre would assess the domestic production and the demand for sugar, before taking a decision to increase the sugar export quota.
Kerala Food Minister G. R. Anil met Union Food Minister Piyush Goyal to complain against the withdrawal of the PMGKAY. Ration dealers also questioned the Centre’s decision, citing that it had an impact on their margins.
“The price has not risen, it is stable,” Mr. Chopra said and added that the retail prices of rice had fallen by 0.42% in the last week. When asked about the complaint of ration dealers, he said stopping one scheme would not put them in distress. He added that the Centre was providing a margin of ₹90 per quintal of foodgrains, and States also paid a similar price.
He said both the Centre and the States had taken steps to increase the financial viability of the dealers.
Open to revisiting sugar export quota
Mr. Chopra said the Centre was open to revisiting the export quota. “Depending on the domestic production and internal requirement, we will take a fresh call in the next month or so,” he said.
He added that there were divergent views on production estimates among different sugar associations for the current marketing year, and a clear picture would emerge by the end of January or early next month.
Additional Secretary, Food Ministry Subodh Singh said the Centre would meet sugarcane commissioners of all the sugar-producing States in February.
“We will reassess production estimates and then will decide how much sugar can be reasonably exported,” he said adding that the production would not be lower than 340-345 lakh tonnes.
“So we will have the potential of some additional quantity of exports,” Mr. Singh said.
“So we will have the potential of some additional quantity of exports”Subodh SinghAdditional Secretary, Food Ministry
