Centre to have enough rice even at half of next season's procurement target

As of August 16, the government has rice stocks of around 26.35 million tonnes in the Central pool

A few days back, the Central government set a target of procuring around 52 million tonnes of rice in the forthcoming season that will start from October 1. But analyses by traders and market sources show that even if the government procures half of the target by the end of March, it will still sit on a surplus at the end of the FY23 financial year i.e. March 31, 2023.

This surplus is after accounting for the distribution of rice through the regular public distribution scheme (PDS) and also the revamped Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY), in which