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— Ramesh Sharma

Taking stock: The Union Minister for Food and Agriculture, Mr Sharad Pawar, presiding over the National Cooperative Development Council’s 66th General Council in the Capital on Monday. Along with him is the Secretary of Agriculture, Mr P. K. Mishra.

Our Bureau

New Delhi, June 23 The Union Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, has said that the Centre may consider sale of wheat from the Food Corporation of India’s (FCI) stocks in the open market in the coming months.

“We may consider sale of wheat in open market after meeting the needs of the public distribution system,” Mr Pawar told presspersons on the sidelines of the 66th General Council meeting of the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), here on Monday.

FCI and State agencies have so far procured about 22.2 million tonnes of wheat in the current marketing season from April — twice the level bought in during the 2007-08 season.

The Centre is hoping to deploy the stocks of rice and wheat built up in its godowns to douse inflationary pressures in the coming months.

This could even involve open market interventions in addition to the regular PDS channels.

When asked whether there was any immediate plan to ban maize exports, as was being demanded by the poultry and livestock industry, the Minister said, “I do not know.”

Earlier, he commended the NCDC for sanctioning an amount of Rs 3,583 crore during 2007-08, which was in excess of its target of Rs 2,000 crore. The Corporation also recorded a pre-tax profit of Rs 130 crore during the year.

For the current fiscal, NCDC’s financial outlay has been budgeted at Rs 3,000 crore, including Rs 1,134 crore for agro-processing and sugar cooperatives.

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Govt may sell FCI wheat in open market, says Pawar

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