Parliament Question: Bharat Rice, Bharat Atta and Bharat Dal

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5423 TO BE ANSWERED ON 25T tl MARCH, 2026 BHARAT RICE, BHARAT ATTA AND BHARAT DAL 5423. SHRI ANTO ANTONY: Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be pleased to state: (a): the details of the quantity ofBharat Rice, Bharat Atta and Bharat Dal allocated and sold since their launch, State-wise; (b): whether the Government has detected any cases of diversion, hoarding or illegal sale of subsidised commodities under the Bharat brand schemes and if so, the details of quantity of Bharat Rice, Bharat Atta and Bharat Dal seized or caught in such scams, commodity-wise; (c): whether the Government has received any complaints or representations from the State Governments, agencies or the public regarding scams or diversion in the sale of Bharat Rice and if so, the details thereof and the action taken by the Government thereon; and (d): whether any monitoring or tracking mechanism has been put in place to prevent diversion or misuse of commodities under the Bharat brand schemes and if so, the details thereoP ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRIMATI NIMUBEN JAYANTIBHAI BAMBHANIYA) (a): Bharat Atta and Bharat Rice is sold to general public by central cooperative organizations namely NAFED, NCCF and Kendriya Bhandar. Wheat and rice allocated to these three central cooperative organizations for sale as Bharat Atta and Bharat Rice across the country through their own stores/ mobile vans and / or E-commerce/ big chain retailers. Besides, 10000 MT of wheat was also allocated to The Maharashtra State Co-Operative Marketing Federation Ltd. (MSCMFL) during phase-I for sale as Bharat Atta. Bharat Dal was launched in July 2023 to make daIs available to consumers at affordable prices. The details of the quantity ofBharat Rice, Bharat Atta and Bharat Dal allocated and sold since their launch is at Annexure-l. (b): As per the undertaking submitted by Central Cooperative Organizations, entire quantity of wheat lifted for Bharat Atta has been successfully distributed. With respect to Bharat Rice, 794.5 MT of rice remains undistributed in Chennai, Mumbai and Indore branches. Further, these organizations have been asked to deposit the differential amount of the economic cost of undistributed rice and issue price, to FCI.(c): A letter dated 29.02.2024 alleging diversion of rice allocated for Bharat Rice into open market was received. Matter got examined based on comments from three organizations i.e. NCCF, NAFED and Kendriya Bhandar and Investigation Report ofFCI and the allegations could not be substantiated. Further, complaints regarding diversion of wheat and rice by Kendriya Bhandar were received. These complaints were examined by Department of Personnel and Training based on the inputs received from Kendriya Bhandar and were forwarded to the Vigilance Wing, headed by the Chief Vigilance Officer of Kendriya Bhandar for necessary action. Kendriya Bhandar has informed that multiple layers of audit viz. statutory audit, concurrent audit and internal audit conducted by various agencies have not found any kind of irregularity in the implementation of the schemes by Kendriya Bhandar. Further, complaints and representations received from the public are dealt with appropriately in accordance with the nature of the queries and the extant guidelines. (d) To prevent diversion or misuse of commodities under the Bharat brand schemes, Standard Operating Procedure has been issued. Further, as the internal logistics and process improvements of central cooperative organizations fall within the purview of the respective administrative Ministries/ Departments- Ministry of Agriculture for NAFED, Department of Personnel and Training for Kendriya Bhandar, and Department of Consumer Affairs for NCCF, these Departments have been requested to review and monitor the Track-and-Trace mechanism put in place by these organizations for supply of Bharat brand products. The Departments have also been asked to undertake periodic review of supply chain management of retail sales ofBharat Atta and Bharat Rice. The retail sale of Bharat Dal under Bharat Brand was discontinued from April, 2025. The assessment of monitoring or tracking ofBharat Chana Dal has been done by Quality Council of India. gcSe kScScScAnnexure I ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO (a) OF THE UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5423 FOR ANSWER ON 25.03.2026 IN THE LOK SABHA Bharat Atta and Bharat Rice: The quantity allocated, lifted and sold in respect of Bharat Atta and Bharat Rice since their launch are given below: (Qty. in MT) Organization Wheat Rice Total Total Total Total Total Total Quantity Quantity Quantity Quantity Quantity Quantity Allocated lifted Sold Allocated lifted sold Kendriya 5,64,238 5,38,387 5,38,218 6,99,500 6,64,926 6,62,391 Bhandar NAFED 8,41 ,461 7,93 , 574 7,91 ,743 5,60,500 5, 13,279 5,09,260 NCCF 6, 1 1,362 5,59,771 5,59,67 1 6, 10 ,000 5,60,688 5,57,918 Total 20, 17,061 18,91,732 18,89,632 18,70,000 17,38,893 17,29,569 + Lifting and sale under Phase-III is ongoing. During phase-1, 10000 MT of wheat was allocated to The Maharashtra State Co-Operative Marketing Federation Ltd. (MSCMFL) out of which 8108.05 MT of wheat was lifted from FCI and the entire lifted quantity of wheat was sold. Bharat Dal: To make daIs available to consumers at affordable prices, Bharat Dal was launched in July 2023 by converting Chana stock in the PSF into (:hana daI for retail disposal. About 12.36 lakh MT ofBharat Chana Dal has been sold to retail consumers in Phase- I ofBharat Chana Dal. Further, additional quantity of 3 LMT was allocated for retail distribution under Bharat (Chana) dal phase-II till 31 December 2024. A quantity of 1.71 LMT chana dal and 43,901 MT ofChana whole have been sold till date. The Bharat Dal was extended to include Bharat Moong Dal and Masur Dal. About 7142 MT of Bharat Moong Dal and 929 MT of Masur Dal were sold to retail consumers till 12.03.2025. As price of pulses have stabilized, the retail sale ofDals under Bharat Brand was discontinued from April 2025.