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Cabinet clears open market sale of 30 lt of rice
New Delhi: The Cabinet on Thursday approved the proposal to allow open market sale (OMS) of 30 lakh tonnes of rice during 2000-01 in states where there is little or no procurement of the foodgrain. This has been done to create storage space for the coming kharif procurement season and to reduce the carrying costs of the Food Corporation of India (FCI). Prices would be fixed by a high level committee of FCI and are likely to be at a discount over the government's procurement price, an official spokesperson said after the cabinet meeting. Meanwhile, official sources said FCI would try to workout a price by adjusting the saving on the carrying cost of paddy against the economic cost which works out to around Rs 1,150 per quintal. Government is saddled with stocks much higher than the required buffer norms. As on July 31, 2000, government agencies have procured 166.57 lakh tonnes of rice against the required buffer norms of 100 lakh tonnes. (PTI)The scheme has been started on the lines of the OMS scheme for wheat which commenced last month. (PTI)Rice, unlike wheat, cannot be kept in the open and the godowns are already flooded with too much stocks. Moreover, the FCI has also shown reluctance to lift the paddy in the coming marketing season starting in October due to lack of storage space. (PTI) Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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