India: Government Might Miss Procurement Target

According to unofficial reports, the Indian government may not achieve the rice procurement target of 27.6 million MT this year even though it started purchasing the food grain from the last week of June at an increased price fixed for 2008-09 marketing season.

The government, however, has been able to procure only 792,000 MT during July-August against 700,000 MT in the same period last year despite paying the enhanced minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 850 a quintal from June 24, sources said.

The sources blamed rice millers of Andhra Pradesh for slow procurement. Besides, they said that states like Orissa, Chhattisgarh have not transferred the total quantity of rice procured by them to the central pool.

Rice procurement stood at 27.08 million MT in 2007-08 marketing season till yesterday against 25.02 million MT in the year-ago period.