In order to address the soaring inflation rate of rice, the government has announced its plan to sell rice under the Bharat brand at an affordable price of Rs 25 per kilogram. To implement this initiative, the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed), National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation (NCCF), and Kendriya Bhandar outlets will be responsible for distributing the rice to consumers.
In a bid to tame the double-digit inflation in rice, the government will now be selling rice under the Bharat brand at Rs 25 a kilo, said a senior government official.
This will be sold through the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed), National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation(NCCF), and Kendriya Bhandar outlets.
The government already sells atta and pulses under the brand. Cereal prices in November rose to 10.27% pushing the food inflation to 8.70% in November, against 6.61% reported the previous month. Food inflation accounts for nearly half of the overall consumer price basket.
While the government has been able to tame rising wheat prices by increasing the amount it offloads in the open market via e-auctions done by the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the extraction of rice has been minimal.
High inflation in staple cereal can be a problem for the government which is preparing for the general election in 2024.
The FCI also recently modified its OMSS rules for rice, relaxing it a bit. The minimum and maximum quantity of rice that a bidder can bid has been fixed at 1 MT and 2000 MT respectively.
This step has been taken to enhance the sale of rice under OMSS (Open Market Sale Scheme) to increase the supply of grain in the market.
