D.V. Prasad, MD of Food Corporation of India (FCI), said the corporation has a stock of 538.19 lakh tonnes foodgrains comprising 301.73 lakh tonnes of rice and 236.46 lakh tonnes of wheat in the country.
During the lockdown period, FCI has moved a record 17.56 lakh of rice and 8.46 lakh tonnes of wheat, totalling over 26.02 lakh tonnes to States across the country through 929 train loads.
In a press release, he said that FCI has brought in about 2.44 lakh tonnes of foodgrains through 87 train loads into Karnataka since the announcement of the lockdown and this has enabled the State government to supply foodgrains to nearly four crore beneficiaries.
A total of 2.76 lakh tonnes of rice and 0.43 lakh tonnes of wheat have been released to the State during this period.
Mr. Prasad said a new beneficiary scheme had been introduced for supply of foodgrains to charitable institutions/NGOs engaged in providing cooked meals to the needy at a subsidised rate of ₹21 per kg for wheat and ₹22 per kg of rice.
