Requests for permission to procure 26 lakh tons of rice and 14 lakh tons of arwa rice in Food Corporation of India
Raipur, December 3, 2020. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has written a letter to Union Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister Piyush Goyal and sought his permission for procurement of 26 lakh metric tonnes of parboiled (usna) rice and 14 lakh metric tonnes of raw (arwa) rice by the Food Corporation of India under the central pool in Kharif year 2020-21, considering timely custom milling of paddy purchased from farmers on MSP in the state and proper utilisation of the state’s (usna and arwa) custom milling capacity of Chhattisgarh.
In his letter, the chief minister has written that 400 usna rice mills in the state have usna milling capacity of 5.68 lakh metric tonne per month and 1504 arwa rice mills in the state have arwa milling capacity of 18.83 lakh metric tonne per month.
Informing the minister that Food Corporation of India in kharif year 2016-17 and earlier had procured parboiled as well as raw rice, the chief minister said that the FCI should procure the surplus paddy (parboiled and raw) from the state so that paddy procured under DCP scheme can be timely processed without any damage to paddy.
He wrote that the Centre has approved the action plan to take 60 lakh metric tonnes of rice after custom milling of paddy to be procured at the support price in the Kharif marketing year 2020-21 in the state of Chhattisgarh.
Out of this, it is expected that 40 lakh metric tonne surplus rice will be procured by the FCI under central pool and remaining 20 lakh metric tonne (15 lakh metric tonne arwa under NFSA and 4.80 lakh MT arwa and 0.20 lakh MT usna under state pool) rice will be procured by the Chhattisgarh State Civil Supplies Corporation for requirement under PDS.
