13:31 IST
Update on steps to check
prise rise
The following is update on actions taken by the Government to maintain adequate availability of foodgrains, edible oils and sugar and to check price rise in these commodities.
A: FOODGRAINS
· Increase in Rice stock: The rice procurement during KMS 2007-08, as on 30.9.2008 was 284.91 lakh tonnes as against the overall procurement of 251.07 lakh tonnes in KMS 2006-2007, representing an increase of 13.48% over the previous year. KMS 2008-09 has since commenced from 1.10.2008. Till 21.1.2009, a quantity of 188.30 lakh tonnes of rice has been procured in KMS 2008-09 as against 160.67 lakh tonnes of rice procured during corresponding period in KMS 2007-08 – an increase of 17%.
· Comfortable stock of foodgrains: It is estimated that the stock of wheat as on 1-4-2009 will be 98.97 lakh tonnes compared to the buffer norms of 40.00 lakh tonnes. In addition there is a strategic reserve of 30 lakh tonnes of wheat. Similarly it is estimated that the rice stock will be 65.94 lakh tonnes as on 1-10-2009, against the buffer norm of 52.00 lakh tonnes.
· Allocation of wheat for bulk consumer under OMSS: In order to check inflationary trend in price of wheat the Government of India had decided to allot 10.0 lakh tonnes of wheat to States for open sale to bulk consumers through tender during Oct 2008 to Feb 2009. Keeping in view the requirement a total additional quantity of 2.22 lakh tonnes has been allotted to the States of Delhi, Assam, Pondicherry, Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Chandigarh, Goa, Haryana, Punjab, Orrisa and Uttarakhand, from the overall quantity of 10.0 lakh tonnes.
· Additional Allocation of Foodgrains :
(i) Additional allocation of 2000 tonnes of rice at economic cost to Lakshdweep in view of shortage of foodgrains.
(ii) Adhoc additional allocation of 57,000 tonnes of APL rice at the rate of 19,000 tons per month from January to March 2009 to Kerala to augment availability of foodgrains for APL category.
(iii) Adhoc/additional allocation of 60,000 tonnes of rice at APL rate for February 2009 to Andhra Pradesh as part of incentive for higher procurement in KMS 2008-2009.
· Position of Rice Export
As against 47.62 lakh tonnes and 8.68 lakh tonnes of non-basmati and basmati rice, respectively, exported in 2007-2008 (April to January), only 7.44 lakh tonnes and 7.61 lakh tonnes of non-basmati and basmati rice, respectively, were exported in the corresponding period in 2008-2009 (upto 14.01.2009).
B: SUGAR
· Steps taken by the Government to control rise in sugar prices
The Central Government made available 50 lakh tonnes of non-levy (free sale) sugar for the quarter January – March, 2009 as against 44 lakh tonnes made available during the corresponding quarter (January – March, 2008) of the last sugar season. The month-wise availability of non-levy sugar is indicated below: -
Month
Normal non-levy quota
Expected availability from dismantled second buffer stock
Total January, 2009-----15--------2-----------17
February 2009------------15--------1------------16
March, 2009---------------16---------1-----------17
Total availability----------46----------4-----------50
The Government has already allocated 2.01 lakh tonnes of levy sugar for the month of January, 2009. Thus, the total availability of sugar in the month of January, 2009 would be 19.01 lakh tonnes which is sufficient to meet the demand of sugar in this month.
It is expected that with the above releases, the retail prices will remain steady during these months.
C: EDIBLE OIL
· Edible oil stock augmentation:
Under the Scheme for distribution of subsidized edible oils, upto 10 lakh tonnes of subsidized oils were to be distributed during 2008-2009 through State Governments/UTs as per demand received from State Governments/UTs. So far, orders have been placed for import of 3.60 lakh tonnes of edible oils. Of this about 3.54 lakh tonnes of edible oils have been shipped. Till 19.1.2009, about 3.52 lakh tonnes of edible oil have already landed in the country and about 2.05 lakh tonnes have so far been distributed to various
States/UTs by Central PSUs. After implementation of the scheme, edible oil prices have substantially declined and poorer sections were provided edible oils at subsidized rates.
· Distribution of subsidized imported edible oils was done in 12 States/UTs namely Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Karnataka, Sikkim, Nagaland and Rajasthan.
· Sufficient edible oil has been contracted by PSUs for distribution through State GovernmentsUTs.
· Decrease in wholesale prices of edible oils: Due to various measures taken by Government and expected good crop of oilseeds, the wholesale prices of groundnut oil, cottonseed oil, sesame oil and coconut oil, have declined by 4.17%, 2.38%, 4.05% and 1.69% respectively during the last one month (from 19.12.08 to 19.1.09) despite the increase in international prices of Crude Palm Oil, soyabean oil, sunflower oil and RBD Palmolein Oil by 14.09%, 8.36%. 5.97% & 11.73% respectively during the same period.
· Exports of all major edible oils have been banned w.e.f 17.03.2008. However, oilseeds can be freely exported. Recently, export of edible oil in small packs upto 5 kg., subject to a ceiling of 10,000 tonnes upto 30.10.09 has been permitted (w.e.f. 20.11.2008).
· The customs duty on degummed soyabean oil has been increased from zero percent to 20% w.e.f. 18.11.2008.
MP:CP:foodsector(23.1.2009)
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