The inventory of wheat in government warehouses stood at 30.10 million tonnes (MT) as of November 01, 2014, according to data compiled by government officials. This is more than double the official target set by the government which raises the prospect of overseas shipments from the world’s second-largest producer.
The government buys the grains from farmers in order to meet emergencies and for welfare programmes providing subsidized food to the poor. Bumper harvests since 2007 have led to huge stockpiles of rice and wheat with the government warehouse. India’s milled rice inventory at the beginning of November was 13.7 MT against a target of 7.2 MT.
The stock positions have helped cushion the blow of a weak start to the four-month annual monsoon rains in June and curb food inflation that plummeted to a near three-year low of 3.52% in September.