18 November,2009 01:05 PM IST | | IANS
Expecting a 14-15 million shortfall in paddy production and procurement this year, India may import rice to shore up its stocks, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said here Wednesday.
"There is a projection that there will be a shortfall of our kharif (summer) crop. So we may have to make some imports," Mukherjee told reporters on the sidelines of an event organised by the Union Bank of India.
"As of now, the government has six million tonnes of surplus rice and seven million tonnes of wheat stocks," the minister added.
Mukherjee said recently that erratic monsoon this year, followed by floods in some parts of the country, could have lowered India's foodgrain output by 14-15 million tonnes.
ALSO READ
Govt lifts curbs on rice exports, removes floor price for non-basmati grain
Govt lifts curb on non-basmati white rice exports, removes floor price
Government exempts parboiled and husked brown rice from export duty
Govt allows non-basmati white rice exports with minimum price cap of USD 490 per tonne
Man dies of cardiac arrest after convicted in a case in Haryana
"I'm waiting for a hard assessment of the sub-normal southwest monsoon and the impact of floods," he had told journalists. "There are some estimates that grain production will be less -- 14-15 million tonnes."
During the 2008-09 kharif season, India's rice production stood at 84.5 million tonnes, compared to an estimate of 69.45 million tonnes during this year's season.
The country logged record grain output last year (July-June), estimated at 233.87 million tonnes. But the failure of monsoon -- on which depends 60 percent of India's agriculture -- cast a shadow on this year's crop.u00a0
u00a0
