Sufficient stocks are available in the central pool to meet the requirement of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and other schemes of the government of India as well as for additional requirement of the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY). As on October 1, approximately 227 LMT of wheat and 205 LMT of rice are available in the central pool which is well above the buffer norms / operational requirement.

Even after meeting the requirement of stocks under NFSA, other welfare schemes as well as PMGKAY VII, as on April 1, 2023 sufficient stock will be available under central pool which is over and above the buffer norms. It is estimated that as on April 1, 2023, approximately 113 LMT wheat and 237 LMT rice will be available in the central pool after meeting all the requirements, against the buffer norms / operational requirement of 75 LMT of wheat and 136 LMT of rice.

Procurement of kharif crop of paddy in the current KMS 2022-23 has commenced. A quantity of around 58 LMT paddy (39 LMT in terms of rice) have been procured up to October 16 which is higher than the procurement during the corresponding period last year in KMS 2021-22. The rainfall condition this year has been fairly good in the country and the production of paddy is expected to remain normal.

For kharif crop of current KMS 2022-23, a quantity of 771 LMT paddy (518 LMT in terms of Rice) has been estimated to be procured. With the inclusion of rabi paddy, it is expected that around 900 LMT paddy will be procured during the entire KMS 2022-23.

Procurement of wheat would commence from April 2023. On account of fairly good rainfall condition in the country, it is expected that Wheat production and procurement in the next Rabi Season shall remain normal.

Considering high nutritional value of coarse grains termed as ‘nutri-cereals’, the government has planned to procure 13.72 LMT during KMS 2022-23 under the central pool against procurement of 6.30 LMT during KMS 2021-22.

To ameliorate the hardship faced by the poor due to economic disruption caused by COVID-19, the government of India has taken pro-poor initiatives and allocated free food grain to about 80 crores people of the country under PMGKAY in addition to existing PDS and other welfares schemes. A total quantity of 1121 LMT food grains has been allocated under PMGKAY with an expected financial outlay of Rs. 3.91 lakh crore. Such large release of food grains coupled with regulation of exports, has ensured that domestic price has largely remained stable compared to international price of these commodities.