Centre readies for massive food procurement exercise with top up budget for strategic play
By Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, April 12: Bracing up for bumper crops, the Centre is gearing up with a budget top up of Rs 20,000 crores to back up procurement exercise for the next few months. The Centre is also readying relaxation norms for the wheat crops hit by the unseasonal rains and hailstorms with a move to boost the public holding of the grains, which will play a crucial role in India’s strategic outreach with countries badly facing the food shortages.
“The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution is bracing for a massive procurement exercise as the harvest season gets rolling in a few days. The Ministry is seeking an additional Rs 20,000 crores for the procurement exercise from the Ministry of Finance,” said a senior official.
It may be recalled that the Ministry had surrendered Rs 12500 crores in the last fortnight of the last financial year on account of lower procurement and inability of the departments to fully utilise the revised budget estimates.
“The Ministry’s assessment of bumper harvesting season is despite the fact that Punjab has reported 20-30 per cent damage to the standing crops due to unseasonal rains and hailstorms. The Centre is estimating that there will be improvement in the foodgrains productions. The Centre is also seeking to replenish the public holding of foodgrains, which had depleted following attempts to combat food inflation, which remained in double digit due to high cereal prices,” sources privy to the development stated.
The Centre is also anticipating that India will have to provide support to friendly countries with foodgrains given that the extended Ukraine War is creating shortage of wheat and other cereals in several parts of the world. Nepal in fact is reeling under the shortage of wheat with flour prices shooting and India is expected to provide additional quota.
“India will also continue to provide humanitarian support to Afghanistan, which is battling famine after a prolonged seasons of extreme cold,” added the official.
Incidentally, India is gearing up to be the first responder to the food crisis for poor countries. India as part of its distress response has reached out wheat stocks to Nepal, African countries, Afghanistan and others.
Strategic affairs note that the extended Ukraine War may force several countries to deal with food emergencies, with the international multilateral agencies already assessing that the incidents of hunger will only grow this year.
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