As part of the inflation control, the center immediately reduced the wheat storage limit to 2,000 tons on Thursday. It also confirmed that enough rice and sugar were available to meet festival demand. Cereal inflation has been in double digits and is affecting the kitchen budget.
The wheat storage limit was 3,000 tons on June 12 and was valid until March 31. We have noticed that the stock limit has been met. At the same time, the price of wheat rose by 4 percent per month. Keeping all this in mind, the stock limit has been reduced, said Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra. Additionally, those with more than 2,000 tons will be given an additional month to unload.
There are no changes in other categories, such as the processor, explains Chopra. He said the total stock of wheat is 255 thousand tons compared to the buffer standard of 202 thousand tons as of October 1. He also mentioned that as of April 1, 187 million tons of wheat were available in the market for all interventions, exceeding the buffer standard. “We have already decided to unload 57,000 tons and are ready for more aggressive interventions”.
sugar
Talking about sugar, he said that so far 85,000,000 tonnes of sugar is available, which is enough to meet the demand for 3 and a half months. A government statement further said that with the current sugar season (October-September) 2022-23, which ends on September 30, India has already crossed the 330 lakh tonne sugar production mark, excluding the diversion of around 43 lakh tonnes to ethanol. production Thus, the country’s total sucrose production would be around 373 LMT, which is the second highest in the last five sugar seasons.
rice
Commenting on the recent rise in rice prices, Chopra said the stock is around 230 tonnes. Prices are high for the quality. “There is not much demand for FCI grade rice, but non-basmati has more demand”. “We will not see a sudden increase in the prices of wheat, rice, sugar and cooking oil during the holidays”, Chopra confirmed.
