India's wheat stocks at government warehouses surged to a record 50.2 million tonnes on June 1, well above the official target of 4.0 million tonnes for the quarter ending June 30, government sources said on Thursday. Rice inventory for the same period was 32.1 million tonnes against a target of 12.2 million tonnes. The government has an extra 3 million tonnes of wheat and 2 million tonnes of rice as strategic reserves over and above the monthly stocks.
Much of the grains are left out in the open exposed to potential rot as state-run warehouses can store only 63 million tonnes against the total 82.4 million tonnes of current stocks, which includes some coarse grains such as millets.