Govt launches Bharat rice at Rs 29/kg to provide relief to consumers

India's food minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday launched 'Bharat rice' at a subsidised rate of Rs 29 per kg to provide relief amid a 15 per cent rise in retail prices of the grain in the last one year.

The subsidised rice will be available in 5 kg and 10 kg packs.

The Food Corporation of India (FCI) will provide 5 lakh tonne of rice to two cooperatives the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India (NCCF) as well as retail chain Kendriya Bhandar in the first phase.


These agencies will further pack the rice in 5 kg and 10 kg and retail through their outlets under the "Bharat" brand. The rice will also be sold through e-commerce platforms.

The government has resorted to retail sale of FCI rice after it received a lukewarm response for sale of rice to bulk users at the same rate through the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS).

The government hopes to get good a response for "Bharat rice" too, like it has been receiving it for "Bharat atta", which is being sold at Rs 27.50 per kg and "Bharat chana" at Rs 60 per kg through the same agencies.

Retail prices have still not come under control despite restrictions on exports and bumper production in 2023-24.

The government has asked retailers, wholesalers, processors, and big retail chains to disclose their stocks to check hoarding.

Experts said at a time the government provides free FCI rice to 80 crore poor ration card holders, the high inflation cannot be in FCI rice because the FCI has huge stock and sells the grain via OMSS.

Therefore, the inflation is probably coming from non-FCI varieties of rice which is less consumed by the poor and does not give the right picture about inflationary trends.

(With inputs from agencies)