The Food and Public Distribution Department has accorded approval for acceptance of 10 LMT of fortified parboiled rice by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) from Odisha, informed Union Minister Piyush Goyal.
The move came after Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had written to Goyal for procurement of parboiled rice by FCI from Odisha during the Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2023-24.
In his reply to Pradhan, Goyal informed about the latest decision regarding the approval of the Department for the procurement of additional fortified parboiled rice from Odisha.
Earlier on January 16, Pradhan had shot off a letter to Goyal and placed the demand for lifting of additional parboiled rice from Odisha in the larger interest of the farmers.
In his letter, Pradhan wrote that Odisha is the fourth-largest paddy-producing state. Due to the bumper harvest, it is estimated that 79 LMT rice will be collected in the Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2023-24 in Odisha.
In the initial allocation target, the Government of India had allocated a target of procuring 44.28 LMT of rice. Besides meeting the state’s own rice requirement for NFSA and SFSA and other welfare schemes, adequate parboiled rice would be left in excess which needs to be evacuated by the Food Corporation of India (FCI).