New Delhi: An e-auction of rice grains held by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) on July 5 saw bids for only 170 tonnes out of the 3.86 lakh tonnes of grain on offer, the Indian Express reported.

The FCI received bids for rice grains from three states – Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka – and the North East Frontier region, and did not receive bids from 16 other states.

Rice grains were sold in the auction at a weighted average price of Rs 3,175.35 per quintal, against the country-wide reserve price of Rs 3,173, the Express’ report said.

The FCI is a Union government agency responsible for the procurement and distribution of food grains. 

Its chairman Ashok Kumar Meena said that the e-auction is part of a market intervention by the Union government to control the prices of rice and wheat in view of inflationary trends.

News agency PTI reported that the FCI will hold its next e-auction on July 12, where it plans to offer 4.29 lakh tonnes of wheat and 3.95 lakh tonnes of rice.

The July 5 auction took place exactly three weeks after the FCI cancelled the supply of around 2 lakh tonnes of rice grains it earlier approved to the Karnataka government for its Anna Bhagya scheme.

This scheme was promised by the Congress party before it came to power in the state in May and aims to provide 10 kg of rice grains every month to every member of below poverty line (BPL) households.

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The Union government already provides half the required amount under the National Food Security Act.

In order to provide the remaining 5 kg rice per BPL household member every month for the Anna Bhagya scheme, the Karnataka government planned to rely on the FCI’s Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS), in which the latter sells procured food grains in order to stabilise prices.

But a day after the FCI agreed to provide rice for Anna Bhagya, the Union government on June 14 directed it to stop selling OMSS grain to state governments (with some exceptions).

The Indian Express reported that although the FCI had enough grain to support the Karnataka government’s request, the Union government's decision was driven by concerns that it may not have enough grain to sell in order to control prices if other states make similar requests to the FCI after Karnataka’s example.

Officials also told the Express that monthly per-capita rice consumption in Karnataka stood at 5.622 kg in rural areas and 5.213 kg in urban areas, according to estimates by the National Sample Survey Office.

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah blamed the BJP-led Union government’s decision as a move to scuttle his government’s Anna Bhagya scheme.

“BJP is always anti-Karnataka and we have been saying this since 2014 … BJP leaders had openly threatened Kannadigas during elections by saying that all schemes will be stopped if BJP is not voted to power. Is this letter to FCI an outcome of that?” he tweeted on June 15.

The state government has since then decided to substitute cash for rice as an interim arrangement in the Anna Bhagya scheme.

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