Government launches Bharat rice at subsidized rates to provide relief to consumers

The Food Corporation of India will provide 5 lakh tonnes of rice to two cooperatives namely NAFED [National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd] and NCCF [National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India] along with retail chain Kendriya Bhandar. The subsidised rice will be available in two packs 5kg and 10kg packs.

The agencies will further pack the rice in 5kg and 10 kg and retail through their outlets under the Bharat brand. The rice will also be sold through an e-commerce platform. The initiative is aimed at addressing the rising prices of rice and ensuring accessibility to affordable food alternatives for general consumers.

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Retail prices have still not come under control despite restrictions on exports and bumper production in 2023-24. The government is providing free FCI rice to 80 crore poor ration card holders as the high inflation cannot influence FCI rice because it has huge stocks and sells the grain via OMSS.

The same initiation was taken by the government earlier for Bharat atta which was sold at Rs 27.50 per kg and Bharat chana at Rs 60 per kg through the same agencies.

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