Procurement of wheat by FCI declines

Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution K V Thomas on Friday said that wheat procurement by Food Corporation of India has declined this year.

Delivering the inaugural address during a Confederation of Indian Industry conference on ‘Warehousing and Cold Chain Infrastructure’ here, the minister said the decline in procurement is due to farmers getting better prices from the private traders than the government’s minimum support price (MSP) of `1,350 per quintal. He also said there is a huge demand for Indian wheat abroad and farmers are getting a price of nearly Rs 1,800 per quintal.

However, the dip in wheat procurement has not perturbed the Union government and the minister said that it is a welcome sign as the farmers are getting better prices.

The Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA) chairman Dinesh Rai also said that the Union government is not worried by the development as its godowns are full.