In spite of having two successive years of record procurement in wheat and rice (non-basmati), the government is in no mood to relax the export ban on both these commodities. Instead, it plans to use the grain stocks to fulfil the promise of subsidised grain to the poor made by the Congress in its election manifesto. The Congress had promised wheat and rice at Rs 3 a kg to BPL families.
“I don’t want to go in a hurry for lifting ban on export. We have to see how to fulfil the commitment made by the Congress in its election manifesto,” Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said at a press conference here. Wheat export was banned in February 2007, while export of rice (non-basmati) was prohibited from April 2008 as anti-inflationary steps.
As on May 1, the central pool had wheat stocks of 29.82 million tonnes and rice stocks of 21.40 million tonnes, making for a total of 51.22 million tonnes. The procured grain is distributed under various subsidised public distribution schemes. Wheat procurement has touched a new record of 23.3 million tonnes this year, while rice purchase, too, has hit a new record of 29.1 million tonnes.
