Phase-II of fortified rice scheme- Key Facts

August 13, 2022

According to the Union government, it has distributed around 6.83 lakh tonnes of fortified rice as a part of Public Distribution System (PDS) in second phase of “Fortified Rice Scheme”.

Highlights:

Government had set aim in 2021, to distribute fortified rice through government schemes by 2024.
First phase of the distribution started in October 2021. During this phase, fortified rice was distributed through Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) and Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) schemes.
In Phase II, 52% of the districts received the fortified rice. Under PDS, 151 districts from 24 states have received fortified rice.
In the first phase, about 17.51 lakh tonnes of fortified rice were distributed across states since this scheme was implementation in October 2021.

Production Capacity:

Besides the distribution, production capacity of mills to mix fortified rice has also enhanced to 60 lakh tonnes as against 13.67 lakh tonnes on August 15, 2021.
The number of mills with blending infrastructure has also increased from 2690 to 6,000 in a year.
Annual manufacturing capacity of Fortified Rice Kernel (FRK) has increased from 0.9 lakh tonnes to 3.5 lakh tonnes now.
State-run Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies started procuring fortified rice in 2020-21. Since then, they have procured 145.93 lakh tonnes of rice, so far.

About Fortified Rice Scheme:

Fortified Rice Scheme is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme. It was launched in 2019 with the aim of eliminating anaemia and micro-nutrient deficiency in India. Scheme was approved for 3 years in 2019-20. Starting from 2021-2022, FCI has been asked to make procurement and distribution plan for fortified rice under ICDS and PM POSHAN scheme.

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