About us

The Food Corporation of India (FCI) is a statutory body under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

It was set up in 1965 following the enactment of the Food Corporation Act, 1964 with the objective of fulfilling various aspects of the National Food Policy at the time.

This article will give details about the Food Corporation of India within the context of the IAS Exam

Overview of the Food Corporation of India

The Food Corporation of India is one of the largest corporations started by the government of India and likely one of the largest supply chain management in India. Initially headquartered in Chennai, it was moved to New Delhi.

Roughly 15 to 20% of India’s wheat output is purchased by the FCI along with 12 to 15% of the total rice output. The purchases are made as per the Minimum Support Price and no restriction on procurement is placed as long as the criteria under Fair Average Quality is met.

Food Corporation of India recently ventured into procurement of pulses in various regions from the crop year 2015–16, and pulses are procured at market rate, which is a sharp deviation from its traditional minimum support price-based procurement system.

Further details about the Food Corporation of India is given in the table below:

Facts about Food Corporation of India

Objectives of the FCI

The Objectives of the Food Corporation of India is as follows:

• Proper price support for to protect the interests of poor farmers
• Effective distribution of foodgrains through a Public Distribution Systems (PDS)
• Maintenance of operational and buffer stocks of food grains to ensure continued supply of essential food supply.
• Regulation of market price for foodgrains so that the population can get them at an affordable price.