Worried over the increase in rice prices, the Centre has asked traders/wholesalers, retailers, big chain retailers and processors/millers to declare their stock position of rice and paddy every Friday.

Union Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra said the decision is to manage the overall food inflation and to prevent unscrupulous speculation.

Traders and millers will have to declare the stocks of paddy and almost all categories of rice, such as broken rice, non-basmati white rice, parboiled rice and basmati rice, on the Food Ministry’s designated portal, Mr. Chopra said.

Further, to check inflationary trends, the Centre has decided to start retail sale of ‘Bharat Rice’ to general consumers. “In the first phase, 5 lakh tonnes of rice have been allocated for retail sale under the ‘Bharat Rice’ brand through three agencies, the NAFED, NCCF and the Kendriya Bhandar. The retail price for sale of Bharat Rice to general consumers will be ₹29 per kilogram. Rice will be sold in five kg and 10 kg bags,” he said.

He said the retail prices had increased by 14.51% over the past year. “In an effort to curb the prices of rice, various steps have already been taken by the government,” he said. Sufficient stock of good quality rice is available with the FCI, which is being offered to traders/wholesalers under the open market sales scheme at a reserve price of ₹29/Kg.

He said the government’s policy of curbs on certain varieties of rice will continue. He said such measures had curbed the pace of increasing trend of rice prices in domestic market. “The first priority of the government as of now is to ensure that rice prices are brought down,” he said.

A policy brief argued for a rational trade policy to contain food inflation which takes into account both consumers and producers.
| Photo Credit: TRAVELLINGLIGHT

A policy brief issued by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations said that the recent steps taken by the government to curb inflation, such as wheat and rice export bans and increasing export duties, were “knee-jerk approaches rather than a well-thought-out strategy”. It argued for a rational trade policy to contain food inflation which takes into account both consumers and producers.

In August 2023, retail inflation accelerated to 6.83%, which is higher than the ceiling of 6%. As food and beverages carry a 57% weightage in India’s retail inflation calculation, and food inflation was 9.94%, rapid acceleration in that segment had a severe impact on retail inflation (Chart 1).

Chart 1 | The chart shows the trend of retail inflation (dark blue) and food inflation (light blue) over time.

Chart appears incomplete? Click to remove AMP mode.

To date, the Indian government has implemented a series of actions aimed at controlling food inflation such as prohibiting the export of wheat in May 2022 and halting the export of broken rice in September 2022. Additionally, in June 2023, the government imposed stocking limits on wheat traders and millers. In July 2023, an export ban was placed on non-basmati white rice, followed by a 20% export duty on parboiled rice. In August 2023, a Minimum Export Price of $1,200 per tonne was set for basmati rice, along with a 40% export duty on onions.

Chart 2 | The chart shows the chronology of trade and domestic stock policy measures to tame the inflation of rice and wheat. 

Due to heatwaves, the production of wheat has suffered in the last two years. Wheat procurement by the government has also been low in the last two cycles. Wheat inflation was 9.22% in August. All this prompted the government to ban wheat exports in May 2022, argues the brief. “But this sudden ban on wheat exports, instead of bringing wheat inflation down, led to greater uncertainty in the market and wheat inflation surged to 15.7 per cent in August 2022, when GOI also banned exports of wheat flour (atta) products,” says the policy brief. Just before the harvest season, wheat inflation accelerated to 25.4% in February 2023. Following this, the government off-loaded wheat under the Open Market Sales Scheme at much cheaper prices and announced wheat stocking limits, according to the policy brief. While these measures did bring down inflation, the report argues that the implications of such measures on farmers who bore the brunt have to be taken into account.

Click to subscribe to our Data newsletter

Chart 3 | The chart shows trends in cereal exports in India. 

Data from the report shows that non-basmati exports increased from 1.38 MMT in FY20 to 6.40 MMT in FY23, by 363%. The report argues that in the fiscal year 2023, the per-tonne export value for non-basmati rice stood at $344, falling below India’s Minimum Support Price (MSP) for rice. This indicates that millers may be sourcing rice directly from farmers or that there could be an increase in rice supply due to potential distribution leakages from the expanded PMGKAY free rice programme. 

Chart 4 | The chart shows the offtake of rice and wheat under the National Food Security Act and PMGKY from the central pool. 

Chart 3 and Chart 4 underscore the growth in rice and wheat offtake within the last three years, as well as the significant rise in grain exports from India over the same time period.

In July 2023, when rice inflation was 13%, the government banned the export of non-basmati rice. Yet, inflation remained at 12.5%. Rather than imposing export duty and gradually increasing its impact, the government called for a ban which created panic among the African and Indian diaspora in the U.S., according to the report.

Source: A report called “Tackling food inflation: Is restricting exports and imposing stocking limits the optimal policy?” published by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations

Also read | Data | Heat wave in Punjab may curtail India’s wheat exports

Listen to our podcast |A discussion on Madras HC judgment: Wife can claim a share in husband’s property | Data Point podcast

New Delhi:

In view of the “special relationship” with Singapore, India has decided to allow the export of rice to “meet the food security requirements” of the Southeast nation, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

“India and Singapore enjoy a very close strategic partnership, characterized by shared interests, close economic ties and strong people-to-people connect. In view of this special relationship, India has decided to allow the export of rice to meet the food security requirements of Singapore,” said MEA official spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi on Tuesday in response to media queries on rice export to Singapore.

“Formal orders in this regard will be issued shortly,” Mr Bagchi added.

India on August 27 introduced additional safeguards on exports of basmati rice so as to prevent exports of non-basmati white rice, which is presently under the prohibited category.

Last Sunday, the government said it has received credible field reports regarding misclassification and illegal export of non-basmati white rice.

“It has been reported that non-basmati white rice is being exported under the HS codes of parboiled rice and basmati rice,” the government said in a statement.

Notably, the export of non-basmati white rice was prohibited from July 20 to check the domestic prices and ensure domestic food security. The government noticed that despite restrictions put on certain varieties, rice exports have been high during the current year.

The central government on July 20 amended the rice export norms putting the non-basmati white rice in the “prohibited” category.

The export policy relating to non-basmati white rice (semi-milled or wholly milled rice, whether or not polished or glazed) has been revised from “free” to “prohibited” and it has come into force immediately, a Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) notification said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Raksha Bandhan, also referred to as Rakhi is celebrated annually to mark the beautiful bond between brothers and sisters. Every year, the festival of Raksha Bandhan falls on the full moon day in the month of Shravana in the Hindu calendar. Like every year, there is some buzz on social media about the dates of the festival. Some users are claiming that Raksha Bandhan will be celebrated on August 30, while others say the date is August 31.

A quintessential Raksha Bandhan celebration features sisters trying Rakhi on their brothers’ wrists and receiving gifts in return. Rakhi Thali is also one of the most important parts of this festival, and it is important to include all the essential pooja items.

Here are some important things to include in the Rakhi thali:

Rakhi

It goes without saying that a Rakhi should be kept in the thali. 

Tilak of Kumkum

Sindoor or Kumkam which represents the goddess Lakshmi is applied on a brother’s forehead after tying the Rakhi. The auspicious tilak ensures wealth and prosperity for him in the long run.

Akshata

Akshata is basically unbroken white rice used for worship. You can keep the rice in a small bowl and apply it after Tilak on your brother’s forehead. 

Sandalwood: 

It is believed that sandalwood brings calmness. By applying sandalwood on the forehead, the brother gets the blessings of Lord Vishnu and Ganesha, and his mind remains calm.

Diyas: 

Lighting diyas brings positivity and indicates new moments and happy beginnings. After lighting a diya on a Rakhi plate, perform the aarti of your brother. The fire deity resides in the diya, which is auspicious in any religious ceremony.

Sweets

On the auspicious occasion, there must be sweets on the Rakhi plate. Sweets are offered to brothers after the completion of the Tilak and Raksha thread ceremony. It is a belief that by feeding sweets to the brother on this day, the sweetness remains in the relationship.

 

The decrease in cultivation of kharif crops is in about nine lakh hectares so far.
| Photo Credit: SANDEEP SAXENA

India’s rice production during the kharif season is likely to fall short of the target of 112 million tonnes (MT) and will reach only 104.99 MT, said the first advance estimate for 2022-23 released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on Wednesday.

Overall, the Centre has estimated foodgrain production of 149.92 MT during the kharif season. The decrease in cultivation of kharif crops is in about nine lakh hectares till the end of last week. But the Centre is hopeful of an increase in the production of some crops, particularly in maize and sugarcane.

According to the estimates, the production of rice will be 104.99 MT. In 2020-21, the production was 105.21 MT. The Centre said the production is higher by 4.40 MT than the previous five-year average of kharif rice production of 100.59 MT.

The estimate also puts the production of coarse cereals at 36.56 MT, almost 14 MT less than 2020-21. Maize production may reach 23.10 MT, which could set a record, according to the Centre. The estimate is higher by 3.21 MT than the average maize production of 19.89 MT.

On pulses, the estimate is 8.37 MT, that includes 3.89 MT of tur. Total production of oilseeds is estimated at 23.57 MT. Soyabean production may reach 12.89 MT. Cotton production could be 34.19 million bales (of 170 kg each) and jute and mesta production may reach 10.09 million bales (of 180 kg each), the Centre said.

Sugarcane production is estimated at 465.05 MT, which is also a record. “Total foodgrain production in the country is estimated at 149.92 MT, which is higher by 6.98 MT than the average foodgrain production of 2016-17 to 2020-21,” the Centre said.