More Stories

Informist, Thursday, May 14, 2026

--FCI: May 1 rice stocks 39.0 mln tn vs 38.1 mln yr ago, 38.6 mln month ago 

--FCI: May 1 wheat stocks 42.8 mln tn vs 35.7 mln yr ago, 21.8 mln month ago 

--FCI: Total food grain stocks 81.8 mln tn as on May 1 vs 73.8 mln year ago 

MUMBAI – Wheat stocks with the Food Corp. of India as of May 1 jumped more than 96% from the previous month to 42.8 million tonnes, according to the Department of Food and Public Distribution. Stocks rose 20% from 35.7 million tonnes in the same month last year, the data showed. Rice stocks as of May 1 were at nearly 39.0 million tonnes, which is the highest level recorded since 1998.

The current wheat stocks are significantly above the buffer norms for the current quarter. According to norms, minimum wheat stocks for Apr-Jun should be nearly 7.5 million tonnes, which includes an operational stock of 4.46 million tonnes and a strategic reserve of 3.0 million tonnes. The government sets the buffer requirement of food grains for every quarter and FCI has to maintain the mandated level.

The government's wheat procurement, which was off to a slow start this year, picked up pace rapidly in the past few weeks. As of May 7, the government had procured 27.67 million tonnes, down 3% on year, Food Corp. of India data showed. The gap with last year's procurement on the corresponding date sharply narrowed from 13% in late April. 

As of May 1, rice stocks in the central pool were nearly 39.0 million tonnes, up more than 2% from 38.1 million tonnes a year ago, according to data. Stocks of the grain also rose nearly 1% from 38.6 million tonnes in April. Current rice stocks are at a record high since 1998, surpassing the previous high seen last month.

The current rice stocks are far above the buffer norm of about 13.6 million tonnes, including operational stock of 11.58 million tonnes and strategic reserve of 2.00 million tonnes.

Total food grain stocks, which include rice and wheat, with FCI as of May 1 were 81.8 million tonnes, up from 73.8 million tonnes a year ago. As of Apr. 1, food grain stocks with the agency were at 60.4 million tonnes, according to the data. The corporation stores essential food grains to ensure food security and to check prices by releasing its stocks through auctions under the open market sales scheme.  

The central pool held 44.6 million tonnes of unmilled paddy as of May 1, up from 31.9 million tonnes a year ago, the data showed. However, stocks of unmilled paddy fell nearly 11% from 50.0 million tonnes in April. Stocks of coarse grains as of May 1 rose to 776,000 tonnes from 316,000 tonnes a year ago, and 477,000 tonnes a month ago, the data showed.  End

Reported by Shreya Shetty

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd. by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt. Ltd.

Informist Media Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2026. All rights reserved.