The Hindu : National : More wheat for festival season

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Oct 20, 2007
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National

More wheat for festival season

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Responding to demands for enhanced availability during the festival season, the Centre will immediately release from its stocks an ad hoc additional quantity of about one lakh tonnes of wheat to all States for distribution to Above Poverty Line (APL) cardholders under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).

It will also import 1.25 lakh tonnes of edible oils.

The government has authorised the Food Corporation of India to make another ad hoc additional allocation of about one lakh tonnes of wheat to all States and Union Territories for November and December.

The allocation will be sold at the TPDS rate for the APL category, which is Rs. 6.10 a kg. “This will help in cooling down the price of wheat and wheat products,” says an official release.

The State governments and Union Territories must keep “strict vigil” to ensure that the APL allocations are distributed as per procedure to cardholders so that there is no leakage or diversion of foodgrains.

To augment supply, the State Trading Corporation, MMTC, PEC (Projects-Equipment-Commodities) and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation have been asked to import 1.25 lakh tonnes of edible oils during the festival season.

They have already placed orders for importing 38,500 tonnes of edible oils.

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