Govt to import 6.5 lakh tonnes of rice, wheat

The government is all set to import 6.5 lakh tonnes of food grains to boost national food stocks and ensure a buffer against volatility in rice and wheat prices.

The advisory committee on economic affairs approved the Food Ministry's proposals today.

Under government-to-government (G2G) contracts, the food ministry will purchase 3 lakh tonnes of wheat. The ministry will import 3 lakh tonnes of rice through international tenders.

To expedite the import of rice, the high-powered committee relaxed public procurement rules, reducing the timeframe for bringing in the grains to 15 days instead of the usual 42 days.

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Additionally, the advisory committee on government purchases has granted permission to import 50,000 tonnes of non-basmati rice from Singapore-based Aditya Birla Global Trading Pte Ltd. The supplier will sell the rice at $354.19 per tonne.

From July 1 to November 17 this year, Bangladesh imported a total of 26.17 lakh tonnes of food grains, of which 2.22 lakh tonnes were purchased by the government.

As of November 17, food stocks in public storage stood at 13.71 lakh tonnes, according to food ministry data.