Govt to import food grains to tackle drought: FM

New Delhi, Aug 21: Finance Minister Pranab Mukerjee on Thursday, Aug 21 said that government will import food grains and agriculture commodities which will be in short supply to tackle the drought situation.

Addressing state agriculture ministers, Pranab Mukerjee said, "Decision is already there that whichever commodity will be in short supply, to maintain demand-supply mechanism, we shall go for imports."

Mukerjee said that the government will not announce the timing of the import to ensure that prices are not raised up artificially by international players.

He said, "The moment news is spread that India is going for big import, the market prices are jacked up."

Speaking on drought crisis, Finance Minister said that the production has a cascading effect. Scanty rainfall will effect recharge ground water.

He assured the country that the government has the experience to deal with such situations and "we need not lose confidence in ourselves."

OneIndia News