Rice stocks with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) have risen to a 10-year high of 36.3 million tonne (MT), 2.5 times more than the buffer.

This has caused concerns that the economic costs of public distribution system (PDS) operations will flare up, causing a further rise in the food subsidy bill. What compounds the problem is the paddy procurement for the 2025-26 season (October-September) is set to start.

Reasons behind record rice stocks and storage concerns

Officials attribute high procurement and robust crop output are the key reasons behind the stocks being high.

Sources told FE that annually the FCI and state agencies purchase around 52 MT to 53 MT of rice from farmers under minimum support price (MSP) while the corporation supplies around 36 to 38 MT of rice for the Pr

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