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Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, while mentioning that the paddy production and procurement may fall short by about 14-15 million tonnes, has said that the nation may have to import rice.
"There is a projection that there will be a shortfall of our kharif (summer) crop. So we may have to make some imports”, said Mukherjee while addressing the media on the margins 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.
He said that the erratic monsoon and the floods have resulted in the decrease of food grains output in the country by 14-15 million tonnes.
"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.
