What is the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and what statute set it up?

The Food Corporation of India (FCI) is a statutory public sector undertaking set up under the Food Corporations Act, 1964 with three founding objectives: to effectively price-support agricultural producers of paddy and wheat by open-ended procurement at the Cabinet-notified Minimum Support Price (MSP); to distribute foodgrains throughout the country for the Public Distribution System (PDS); and to maintain a buffer stock of foodgrains for national food security. FCI began operations on 14 January 1965 with headquarters at New Delhi, is administered by the Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD) in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and is governed by a Board of Directors chaired by the Chairman & Managing Director (CMD). Operationally it is organised into a Headquarters at New Delhi, five Zonal Offices (North at Noida, South at Chennai, East at Kolkata, West at Mumbai, North-East at Guwahati), State Offices in every state, and a network of Regional and District Offices with FCI-owned and hired storage godowns.

How does FCI procure paddy and wheat at MSP — what does 'open-ended procurement' actually mean?

For paddy and wheat, FCI runs open-ended procurement at MSP — meaning any farmer bringing produce that meets Fair Average Quality (FAQ) norms during the notified procurement window can sell it at MSP, without a cap on the total quantity. Procurement centres are opened at APMC mandis, Primary Agricultural Cooperative Society (PACS) collection points, and dedicated procurement yards. Farmers register on the state procurement portal (anaajkharid.in in Punjab, ekharid.haryana.gov.in in Haryana, mpeuparjan.nic.in in Madhya Pradesh, chhattisgarhkharid.in in Chhattisgarh, ap.gov.in and others for the respective DCP states), present land records and an Aadhaar-linked bank account, deliver produce against FAQ grading, and receive payment via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) within a target of 48-72 hours. FCI operates the procurement directly in Non-DCP states and through state agencies in Decentralised Procurement (DCP) states. The volume-heavy legs are Punjab and Haryana for wheat, and Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal for paddy. See our /msp guide for the MSP notification calendar and cost concepts.

What is Decentralised Procurement (DCP) and which states run it?

Decentralised Procurement (DCP) was introduced in 1997-98 to shorten the supply chain, reduce inter-state grain transport, and encourage local procurement in states not traditionally served by FCI directly. Under DCP, the state government (through its civil supplies corporation, cooperative federation, or empanelled rice millers) procures paddy or wheat at MSP on FCI's behalf, mills paddy into rice at the notified state levy, and delivers rice or wheat to the state Public Distribution System (PDS) allocation under the National Food Security Act (NFSA). The Government of India reimburses the economic cost — MSP plus incidentals — to the state through a monthly provisional payment mechanism, with final settlement based on FCI's audited cost sheet. Current DCP states include Punjab, Haryana (partial), Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar (partial), Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka (partial), Tamil Nadu (rice only), Kerala (partial) and others. Non-DCP states are served by FCI's own procurement and stock transfers from central pool depots.

What are the buffer stock norms — how much rice and wheat does FCI have to hold?

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) notifies quarterly buffer norms for the central pool — the minimum stock of rice and wheat that FCI must hold at the start of each quarter across the country. The current norms (revised January 2015 and periodically thereafter) prescribe stock levels for 1 April, 1 July, 1 October and 1 January of each year, split into 'operational stock' (needed for NFSA distribution under PDS and Other Welfare Schemes over the next quarter) and 'strategic reserve' (5 million tonnes of wheat and 2 million tonnes of rice held for emergency use). Actual stocks are typically well above the norm — this is the 'excess stock' debate — because open-ended procurement in a good monsoon year produces more than off-take. Excess stock is disposed of through the Open Market Sale Scheme (Domestic), exports, and Additional Central Assistance (ACA) to states.

How does FCI feed the PDS — the movement from procurement to ration shop?

Once grain is procured, FCI (or the DCP state) transfers it to central-pool depots — FCI-owned Food Storage Depots (FSDs), Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) and State Warehousing Corporation (SWC) godowns, and hired capacity from private warehouses under the Private Entrepreneurs Guarantee (PEG) scheme. FCI then moves stock by rail (dominant mode, contracted through Indian Railways under the Food Grain Movement Programme) and by road to consuming states. State governments lift the grain at the FCI depot at the Central Issue Price (CIP) — currently ₹3/kg for rice, ₹2/kg for wheat and ₹1/kg for coarse cereals under NFSA for Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Households (PHH) — and distribute it through the Fair Price Shop (FPS) network to NFSA beneficiaries. Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) — continued for five years from 1 January 2024 — the CIP is effectively zero, with the Centre bearing the entire cost. FCI's economic cost = MSP + procurement incidentals + storage + freight + interest + administrative charges; the gap between economic cost and CIP is the food subsidy borne by the Centre.

What is the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) and how does FCI dispose of excess stock?

The Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS-Domestic) is FCI's e-auction route for selling wheat and rice from the central pool to bulk buyers — flour millers, biscuit makers, private traders and state governments — at a reserve price notified by DFPD. OMSS auctions are conducted on the e-NAM platform and on FCI's own OMSS portal, typically in weekly slots, with a floor price close to (or a small margin above) the economic cost. OMSS serves three functions: it cools domestic wheat and rice prices when open-market rates rise sharply (as during 2022-23 wheat prices), it moves excess stock out of FCI godowns to make room for the next season's procurement, and it generates revenue to offset the food subsidy. Since 2023, OMSS to state governments has been restricted to protect central-pool availability. FCI also disposes of stocks through Additional Central Assistance to states, exports (via State Trading Corporation and MMTC in select years), and allocations to Other Welfare Schemes such as the Mid-Day Meal (now PM POSHAN) and Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS).

How does FCI interface with NAFED under PM-AASHA for pulses and oilseeds?

For paddy and wheat, FCI is the principal procurement agency. For pulses, oilseeds and copra — procured under the umbrella /pm-aasha scheme — the principal agency is NAFED (the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India) with FCI in a complementary role. Under the Price Support Scheme (PSS) leg of PM-AASHA, NAFED (and in some states FCI, SFAC and state cooperative federations like MARKFED and NCCF) opens procurement centres at APMC mandis when the modal market price falls below MSP. Procurement is capped at 25% of state production (raised to 40% in specific seasons with special Cabinet approval), unlike the open-ended model for paddy and wheat. Payment flows via DBT with the same 48-72 hour target. FCI's role for pulses and oilseeds is therefore secondary — largely as a stockholder and mover, not as the front-line procurer.

What are the Shanta Kumar Committee recommendations and where does FCI reform stand today?

In August 2014 the Government constituted the High Level Committee on Reorienting the Role and Restructuring of FCI, chaired by Shri Shanta Kumar, which submitted its report in January 2015. Headline recommendations included: (i) FCI to hand over all procurement of wheat, paddy and rice to states that have gained sufficient experience in DCP (Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha), and focus its own procurement efforts on eastern states like Assam, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh; (ii) NFSA coverage to be reduced from 67% to 40% of the population, with the below-poverty-line targeting sharpened; (iii) direct cash transfer of the food subsidy to beneficiaries in urban areas; (iv) end of statutory levies and taxes above 3% of MSP by state governments (Punjab, Haryana had levies of 14.5% and 11.5% respectively at the time); (v) outsourcing of stocking operations to CWC, SWC and private players under PEG on a competitive basis; (vi) increasing the MSP for pulses and oilseeds materially and giving them procurement priority to encourage diversification out of paddy in over-stressed water regions. Implementation has been partial — DCP has expanded, PEG storage has scaled, and state levies have been trimmed — but the broader restructuring of FCI's role is a continuing policy debate rather than a completed reform.

FCI Guide — Food Corporation of India: MSP Procurement of Paddy and Wheat, Buffer Norms, PDS Supply Chain, Decentralised Procurement and How the Central Pool Actually Works

The Food Corporation of India (FCI)is the statutory public sector undertaking that operationalises India's foodgrain security triad — price support for paddy and wheat producers at Minimum Support Price, buffer stocks to insure the country against production shocks, and distributionof foodgrains through the state Public Distribution System (PDS) under the National Food Security Act, 2013. FCI is the largest single procurer, storer and mover of foodgrains in the world by volume, and its economic cost formula is one of the two structural drivers of India's food subsidy bill (the other being the Central Issue Price under NFSA). This deep-dive covers the Food Corporations Act 1964 origin, the zonal-plus-state operational structure, the open-ended MSP procurement model, the Decentralised Procurement (DCP) scheme, buffer norms set by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), the OMSS auction route, the FCI-NAFED interface under PM-AASHA, and the Shanta Kumar Committee reform agenda.

At a glance

Statute: Food Corporations Act, 1964.
Operational start: 14 January 1965; headquartered at New Delhi.
Administrative Ministry: Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD), Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Government of India.
Objectives (Section 12 of the Act): price support to farmers by MSP procurement; distribution of foodgrains for PDS; maintenance of buffer stocks.
Coverage crops: paddy (as rice, milled at notified state levy), wheat, and coarse cereals under NFSA allocations; complementary role for pulses and oilseeds under PM-AASHA.
Organisational structure: Headquarters (New Delhi) + 5 Zonal Offices (North / South / East / West / North-East) + State Offices + Regional and District Offices + FCI-owned Food Storage Depots (FSDs), CWC / SWC hired capacity, PEG (Private Entrepreneurs Guarantee) storage.
Governance: Board of Directors chaired by the Chairman & Managing Director (CMD).
Portals: fci.gov.in, dfpd.gov.in, nfsa.gov.in, pib.gov.in.

How FCI procures at MSP — the open-ended model

For paddy and wheat, FCI runs open-ended procurement at MSP — any farmer bringing produce that meets Fair Average Quality (FAQ) norms during the notified procurement window can sell it at MSP, without a cap on the total quantity. This is the defining feature that separates paddy and wheat procurement from the capped procurement of pulses and oilseeds under PM-AASHA. Procurement centres are opened at APMC mandis, Primary Agricultural Cooperative Society (PACS) collection points, and dedicated procurement yards. Farmers register on the state procurement portal, present land records and an Aadhaar-linked bank account, deliver produce against FAQ grading, and receive payment via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) within a target of 48-72 hours.

State-level registration portals include anaajkharid.in (Punjab), ekharid.haryana.gov.in (Haryana), mpeuparjan.nic.in (Madhya Pradesh), chhattisgarhkharid.in (Chhattisgarh), and equivalents for the other Decentralised Procurement states. For the underlying MSP notification calendar, the CACP cost concepts (A2, A2+FL, C2) and the Kharif / Rabi announcement rhythm, see our MSP deep-dive and the CACP deep-dive.

Decentralised Procurement (DCP) — states procuring on FCI's behalf

Decentralised Procurement (DCP) was introduced in 1997-98to shorten the supply chain, cut inter-state grain freight, and encourage local procurement in states not traditionally served by FCI directly. Under DCP, the state government (through its civil supplies corporation, cooperative federation, or empanelled rice millers) procures paddy or wheat at MSP on FCI's behalf, mills paddy into rice at the notified state levy, and delivers rice or wheat to the state PDS allocation under the National Food Security Act, 2013. The Government of India reimburses the economic cost — MSP plus incidentals — to the state through a monthly provisional payment mechanism, with final settlement based on FCI's audited cost sheet.

Full-DCP states (paddy + wheat): Punjab, Haryana (partial), Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand.
Partial-DCP states: Bihar, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu (rice-only), Gujarat, Rajasthan (wheat in specific years).
Non-DCP states: served by FCI's own procurement operations and central-pool stock transfers.

Buffer norms and strategic reserve

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) notifies quarterly buffer norms for the central pool — the minimum stock of rice and wheat that FCI must hold at the start of each quarter across the country. The current norms (revised January 2015 and periodically thereafter) prescribe stock levels for 1 April, 1 July, 1 October and 1 January of each year, split into two components:

Operational stock — the quantity needed for NFSA distribution under PDS and Other Welfare Schemes (OWS) over the next quarter, computed on the basis of monthly average off-take.
Strategic reserve — 5 million tonnes of wheat and 2 million tonnes of rice held for emergency use (national or state-level food crises, calamities, sharp price spikes).

Actual stocks are usually well above the norm — the perennial "excess stock" debate — because open-ended procurement in a good monsoon year produces more than off-take. Excess stock is disposed of through the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS-Domestic), exports in select years, and Additional Central Assistance (ACA) to states.

From procurement to ration shop — the PDS supply chain

Once grain is procured, FCI (or the DCP state) transfers it to central-pool depots: FCI-owned Food Storage Depots (FSDs), Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) and State Warehousing Corporation (SWC) godowns, and hired capacity from private warehouses under the Private Entrepreneurs Guarantee (PEG) scheme (which underwrites capex for private warehouses in return for a long-term FCI lease). FCI then moves stock by rail (dominant mode, contracted through Indian Railways under the Food Grain Movement Programme) and by road to consuming states.

State governments lift the grain at the FCI depot at the Central Issue Price (CIP) — under NFSA the statutory CIP for Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Households (PHH) is ₹3/kg for rice, ₹2/kg for wheat and ₹1/kg for coarse cereals — and distribute it through the Fair Price Shop (FPS) network to NFSA beneficiaries. Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) — continued for five years from 1 January 2024— the CIP is effectively zero, with the Centre bearing the entire economic cost. FCI's economic cost = MSP + procurement incidentals + storage + freight + interest + administrative charges; the gap between economic cost and CIP is the food subsidy borne by the Centre.

Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS)

The Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS-Domestic)is FCI's e-auction route for selling wheat and rice from the central pool to bulk buyers — flour millers, biscuit makers, private traders and state governments — at a reserve price notified by DFPD. OMSS auctions are conducted on the e-NAMplatform and on FCI's own OMSS portal, typically in weekly slots, with a floor price close to (or a small margin above) the economic cost.

OMSS serves three functions:

Price cooling — release stock when open-market rates rise sharply (as during 2022-23 wheat prices).
Stock rotation — clear FCI godowns to make room for the next season's procurement.
Subsidy offset — generate revenue against the food-subsidy bill.

Since 2023, OMSS to state governments has been restricted to protect central-pool availability. FCI also disposes of stocks through Additional Central Assistance to states, exports (via State Trading Corporation and MMTC in select years), and allocations to Other Welfare Schemes such as PM POSHAN (the Mid-Day Meal successor) and Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS).

FCI, NAFED and the PM-AASHA interface

FCI is the principal procurement agency for paddy and wheat. For pulses, oilseeds and copra — procured under the umbrella PM-AASHA scheme — the principal agency is NAFED (the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India), with FCI in a complementary role, alongside SFAC and state cooperative federations (MARKFED, NCCF, HAFED and equivalents). Under the Price Support Scheme (PSS) leg of PM-AASHA, procurement centres open at APMC mandis when the modal market price falls below MSP. Procurement is capped at 25% of state production (raised to 40% in specific seasons with special Cabinet approval), unlike the open-ended model for paddy and wheat. Payment flows via DBT with the same 48-72 hour target. FCI's role for pulses and oilseeds is therefore secondary — largely as a stockholder and mover, not as the front-line procurer.

Reform agenda — the Shanta Kumar Committee

In August 2014 the Government constituted the High Level Committee on Reorienting the Role and Restructuring of FCI, chaired by Shri Shanta Kumar, which submitted its report in January 2015. Headline recommendations included:

Handover of procurement to states that have gained sufficient DCP experience (Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha), while FCI concentrates its own procurement on eastern states (Assam, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, eastern Uttar Pradesh) where procurement infrastructure is thin.
Narrowing NFSA coverage from 67% to 40% of the population, with sharpened below-poverty-line targeting.
Direct cash transfer of the food subsidy to beneficiaries in urban areas.
Cap on state levies at 3% of MSP (Punjab and Haryana levies were 14.5% and 11.5% respectively at the time).
Outsourced storage to CWC, SWC and private players under PEG on a competitive basis.
Diversification incentive — materially increased MSP for pulses and oilseeds and procurement priority for them, to shift acreage out of paddy in over-stressed water regions.

Implementation has been partial — DCP has expanded, PEG storage has scaled, state levies have been trimmed, and pulses and oilseeds MSP has been raised faster than paddy and wheat — but the broader restructuring of FCI's role is a continuing policy debate rather than a completed reform.

How FCI interacts with the wider farmer-scheme stack

MSP — the Cabinet-notified floor price that FCI operationalises for paddy and wheat through open-ended procurement.
PM-AASHA — the umbrella scheme (PSS + PDPS + PPSS) under which FCI plays a complementary role to NAFED for pulses, oilseeds and copra.
NFSM — the National Food Security Mission that raises area and productivity in rice, wheat, pulses and nutri-cereals — the crops that FCI then procures and stores.
e-NAM — the National Agriculture Market that serves as the price-discovery layer, and the auction platform for OMSS-Domestic releases from the central pool.
PM-KISAN — the ₹6,000/year direct income transfer that complements the price-side support delivered through FCI procurement.
FPO scheme — Farmer Producer Organisations that aggregate produce and improve small-farmer access to FCI procurement centres.
India crop calendar — aligns FCI procurement windows with Kharif and Rabi sowing and harvest schedules.

Where to find authoritative FCI data

FCI corporate portal — fci.gov.in — procurement operations, current stock position, OMSS notifications and tenders.
DFPD — dfpd.gov.in — NFSA allocation, DCP settlements and food subsidy figures.
NFSA portal — nfsa.gov.in — state-wise NFSA coverage and Fair Price Shop maps.
PIB — pib.gov.in — CCEA notifications on buffer norms, MSP and OMSS.
AGMARKNET — agmarknet.gov.in — daily wholesale mandi prices, to compare against MSP realization at FCI procurement centres.
State procurement portals — anaajkharid.in (Punjab), ekharid.haryana.gov.in (Haryana), mpeuparjan.nic.in (Madhya Pradesh), chhattisgarhkharid.in (Chhattisgarh) and equivalents.
Field-level guidance — the nearest Krishi Vigyan Kendra and the closest State Agricultural University or ICAR institute keep copies of the current CCEA notifications, DCP guidelines and FCI procurement schedules.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and what statute set it up?: The Food Corporation of India (FCI) is a statutory public sector undertaking set up under the Food Corporations Act, 1964 with three founding objectives: to effectively price-support agricultural producers of paddy and wheat by open-ended procurement at the Cabinet-notified Minimum Support Price (MSP); to distribute foodgrains throughout the country for the Public Distribution System (PDS); and to maintain a buffer stock of foodgrains for national food security. FCI began operations on 14 January 1965 with headquarters at New Delhi, is administered by the Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD) in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and is governed by a Board of Directors chaired by the Chairman & Managing Director (CMD). Operationally it is organised into a Headquarters at New Delhi, five Zonal Offices (North at Noida, South at Chennai, East at Kolkata, West at Mumbai, North-East at Guwahati), State Offices in every state, and a network of Regional and District Offices with FCI-owned and hired storage godowns.
How does FCI procure paddy and wheat at MSP — what does 'open-ended procurement' actually mean?: For paddy and wheat, FCI runs open-ended procurement at MSP — meaning any farmer bringing produce that meets Fair Average Quality (FAQ) norms during the notified procurement window can sell it at MSP, without a cap on the total quantity. Procurement centres are opened at APMC mandis, Primary Agricultural Cooperative Society (PACS) collection points, and dedicated procurement yards. Farmers register on the state procurement portal (anaajkharid.in in Punjab, ekharid.haryana.gov.in in Haryana, mpeuparjan.nic.in in Madhya Pradesh, chhattisgarhkharid.in in Chhattisgarh, ap.gov.in and others for the respective DCP states), present land records and an Aadhaar-linked bank account, deliver produce against FAQ grading, and receive payment via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) within a target of 48-72 hours. FCI operates the procurement directly in Non-DCP states and through state agencies in Decentralised Procurement (DCP) states. The volume-heavy legs are Punjab and Haryana for wheat, and Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal for paddy. See our /msp guide for the MSP notification calendar and cost concepts.
What is Decentralised Procurement (DCP) and which states run it?: Decentralised Procurement (DCP) was introduced in 1997-98 to shorten the supply chain, reduce inter-state grain transport, and encourage local procurement in states not traditionally served by FCI directly. Under DCP, the state government (through its civil supplies corporation, cooperative federation, or empanelled rice millers) procures paddy or wheat at MSP on FCI's behalf, mills paddy into rice at the notified state levy, and delivers rice or wheat to the state Public Distribution System (PDS) allocation under the National Food Security Act (NFSA). The Government of India reimburses the economic cost — MSP plus incidentals — to the state through a monthly provisional payment mechanism, with final settlement based on FCI's audited cost sheet. Current DCP states include Punjab, Haryana (partial), Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar (partial), Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka (partial), Tamil Nadu (rice only), Kerala (partial) and others. Non-DCP states are served by FCI's own procurement and stock transfers from central pool depots.
What are the buffer stock norms — how much rice and wheat does FCI have to hold?: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) notifies quarterly buffer norms for the central pool — the minimum stock of rice and wheat that FCI must hold at the start of each quarter across the country. The current norms (revised January 2015 and periodically thereafter) prescribe stock levels for 1 April, 1 July, 1 October and 1 January of each year, split into 'operational stock' (needed for NFSA distribution under PDS and Other Welfare Schemes over the next quarter) and 'strategic reserve' (5 million tonnes of wheat and 2 million tonnes of rice held for emergency use). Actual stocks are typically well above the norm — this is the 'excess stock' debate — because open-ended procurement in a good monsoon year produces more than off-take. Excess stock is disposed of through the Open Market Sale Scheme (Domestic), exports, and Additional Central Assistance (ACA) to states.
How does FCI feed the PDS — the movement from procurement to ration shop?: Once grain is procured, FCI (or the DCP state) transfers it to central-pool depots — FCI-owned Food Storage Depots (FSDs), Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) and State Warehousing Corporation (SWC) godowns, and hired capacity from private warehouses under the Private Entrepreneurs Guarantee (PEG) scheme. FCI then moves stock by rail (dominant mode, contracted through Indian Railways under the Food Grain Movement Programme) and by road to consuming states. State governments lift the grain at the FCI depot at the Central Issue Price (CIP) — currently ₹3/kg for rice, ₹2/kg for wheat and ₹1/kg for coarse cereals under NFSA for Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Households (PHH) — and distribute it through the Fair Price Shop (FPS) network to NFSA beneficiaries. Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) — continued for five years from 1 January 2024 — the CIP is effectively zero, with the Centre bearing the entire cost. FCI's economic cost = MSP + procurement incidentals + storage + freight + interest + administrative charges; the gap between economic cost and CIP is the food subsidy borne by the Centre.
What is the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) and how does FCI dispose of excess stock?: The Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS-Domestic) is FCI's e-auction route for selling wheat and rice from the central pool to bulk buyers — flour millers, biscuit makers, private traders and state governments — at a reserve price notified by DFPD. OMSS auctions are conducted on the e-NAM platform and on FCI's own OMSS portal, typically in weekly slots, with a floor price close to (or a small margin above) the economic cost. OMSS serves three functions: it cools domestic wheat and rice prices when open-market rates rise sharply (as during 2022-23 wheat prices), it moves excess stock out of FCI godowns to make room for the next season's procurement, and it generates revenue to offset the food subsidy. Since 2023, OMSS to state governments has been restricted to protect central-pool availability. FCI also disposes of stocks through Additional Central Assistance to states, exports (via State Trading Corporation and MMTC in select years), and allocations to Other Welfare Schemes such as the Mid-Day Meal (now PM POSHAN) and Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS).
How does FCI interface with NAFED under PM-AASHA for pulses and oilseeds?: For paddy and wheat, FCI is the principal procurement agency. For pulses, oilseeds and copra — procured under the umbrella /pm-aasha scheme — the principal agency is NAFED (the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India) with FCI in a complementary role. Under the Price Support Scheme (PSS) leg of PM-AASHA, NAFED (and in some states FCI, SFAC and state cooperative federations like MARKFED and NCCF) opens procurement centres at APMC mandis when the modal market price falls below MSP. Procurement is capped at 25% of state production (raised to 40% in specific seasons with special Cabinet approval), unlike the open-ended model for paddy and wheat. Payment flows via DBT with the same 48-72 hour target. FCI's role for pulses and oilseeds is therefore secondary — largely as a stockholder and mover, not as the front-line procurer.
What are the Shanta Kumar Committee recommendations and where does FCI reform stand today?: In August 2014 the Government constituted the High Level Committee on Reorienting the Role and Restructuring of FCI, chaired by Shri Shanta Kumar, which submitted its report in January 2015. Headline recommendations included: (i) FCI to hand over all procurement of wheat, paddy and rice to states that have gained sufficient experience in DCP (Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha), and focus its own procurement efforts on eastern states like Assam, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh; (ii) NFSA coverage to be reduced from 67% to 40% of the population, with the below-poverty-line targeting sharpened; (iii) direct cash transfer of the food subsidy to beneficiaries in urban areas; (iv) end of statutory levies and taxes above 3% of MSP by state governments (Punjab, Haryana had levies of 14.5% and 11.5% respectively at the time); (v) outsourcing of stocking operations to CWC, SWC and private players under PEG on a competitive basis; (vi) increasing the MSP for pulses and oilseeds materially and giving them procurement priority to encourage diversification out of paddy in over-stressed water regions. Implementation has been partial — DCP has expanded, PEG storage has scaled, and state levies have been trimmed — but the broader restructuring of FCI's role is a continuing policy debate rather than a completed reform.
Where can farmers, researchers and traders access FCI data and portals?: The authoritative sources are: the FCI corporate portal at fci.gov.in for procurement operations, stock position, OMSS notifications and tenders; the Department of Food and Public Distribution at dfpd.gov.in for the NFSA allocation, DCP settlements and food subsidy figures; the Public Distribution System portal at nfsa.gov.in for state-wise NFSA coverage and Fair Price Shop maps; the state procurement portals — anaajkharid.in (Punjab), ekharid.haryana.gov.in (Haryana), mpeuparjan.nic.in (Madhya Pradesh), chhattisgarhkharid.in (Chhattisgarh), and equivalents — for farmer registration and procurement schedules; PIB (pib.gov.in) for the CCEA notifications on buffer norms, MSP and OMSS; and agmarknet.gov.in for the daily wholesale mandi prices to compare against MSP realization. For a broader view of price-support policy see our /msp guide, the umbrella /pm-aasha scheme, and the National Food Security Mission at /nfsm. Farmer walk-in guidance is available at the nearest /krishi-vigyan-kendras.

Related deep-dives

Pair this FCI guide with the MSP deep-dive for the price side; the umbrella PM-AASHA scheme for pulses, oilseeds and copra; the NFSM for the productivity side; and the NABARD apex bank for the rural-credit side. For the price-discovery rail see e-NAM, and for procurement-window planning see the India crop calendar.