Centre extends sale of ‘Bharat atta’ and ‘Bharat rice’ at revised rates
The Centre has extended the sale of ‘Bharat atta’ and ‘Bharat rice’ brands past the June 2024 deadline to control food prices. New retail prices are Rs 30/kg for ‘Bharat atta’ and Rs 34/kg for ‘Bharat rice’, reflecting increases of 9.09% and 17.24% respectively. The government will subsidize ‘Bharat atta’ by Rs 2.35/kg and ‘Bharat rice’ by Rs 2/kg, making the effective issue prices Rs 20.65/kg and Rs 22/kg, funded by the Price Stabilisation Fund, which received a Rs 10,000 crore boost in the FY25 Budget.
The Centre has extended the sale of ‘Bharat atta’ and ‘Bharat rice’ brands beyond their June 2024 deadline, in a bid to tame food prices, sources said.
However, the retail price for ‘Bharat atta’ and ‘Bharat rice’ has been revised for new stocks.
According to the new order, the retail price of ‘Bharat Atta’ will be pegged at Rs 30 per kg, which is around 9.09 per cent more than the current rate, while ‘Bharat rice’ was earmarked at Rs 34 per kg, which is around 17.24 per cent more than the current rate, sources said.
The government will offer a subsidy of Rs 2.35 per kg for ‘Bharat Atta’ which would mean that the effective issue price for such ‘atta’ for Food Corporation of India (FCI) is Rs 20.65 per kg.
For ‘Bharat rice’ the government will hand a subsidy of Rs 2 per kg, which would make the effective issue price of around Rs 22 per kg for FCI.
The subsidy would be adjusted from the Price Stabilisation Fund under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, which earlier this week bolstered by a corpus of Rs 10,000 crore in the FY25 Budget.
