No plans to import rice, says govt

NEW DELHI: The government has no immediate plans to import rice as it has enough stocks to manage the demand, the Lok Sabha was informed on Monday.

“Government has assessed the stock position of rice and decided that import of rice for central pool is not required at this stage,” minister of state in commerce and industry Jyotiraditya Scindia informed the Lok Sabha.

However, if trend of procurement shows shortfall, the government may, at an appropriate time, decide to consider import of rice to ensure availability of rice in the domestic market at affordable price, Mr Scindia said. A shortfall of about 15 million tonnes in kharif production is expected. Last month, the government had scrapped three tenders for rice totalling 30,000 tonnes.

The three government companies had received bids with a price range of $372-598 per tonne.

Rice output is seen at 69.45 million tonnes in 2009-10 kharif season against 84.58 million tonnes in the last season.