'Bharat Rice': Has Amazon, Flipkart & Other E-Commerce Sites Started Selling It Online?

There is a huge demand for the recently launched 'Bharat Rice', an initiative by the Centre to provide premium quality rice at a subsidised rate of Rs 29 per kilogram amid a 15 per cent rise in retail prices of the grain in the last one year.

The example of the demand for this rice came to light after 10 tonnes of rice were sold in just two hours in Kolar in Karnataka, days ago. As the news of the rice being sold at Rs 29 spread, people came in bikes, autos and cars and purchased the 5 and 10 kg bags. Many people returned empty-handed as the entire stocks were sold in a matter of time, according to a report.

The same story is being heard from some parts of the country.

The Food Corporation of India (FCI) will provide 5 lakh tonnes of rice to two cooperatives - National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India (NCCF) - as well as retail chain Kendriya Bhandar in the first phase.

These agencies will further pack the rice in 5 kg and 10 kg packs and retail through their outlets under the 'Bharat' brand. The rice will also be sold through e-commerce platforms.

As the government launched this initiative on February 6, netizens started Googling to find out whether it is available on their favourite e-commerce sites like Amazon and Flipkart.

As of February 11, the 'Bharat Rice' is not being sold on both the e-commerce sites. Although Jiomart has listed the product on its website, sales have not commenced. Attempts to place an order resulted in a notification stating the product is unavailable at the specified location.

The booking was attempted through different pin codes including Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and Kolkata.

Moreover, the online sale has not commenced in NAFED's official website.

It has to be noted that the Centre is already selling 'Bharat Atta' at Rs 27.50 per kg and 'Bharat Dal' (chana) at Rs 60 per kg.

At the launch of 'Bharat Rice', Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal said the government is making efforts to ensure that daily food items are available at affordable rates for the common people.

"When the wholesale intervention (to control prices) was not benefitting more people, the retail intervention was started under the Price Stabilisation Fund(PSF)," Goyal said.

In each kg of 'Bharat rice', there will be 5 per cent of broken rice.