NEW DELHI: India's wheat stocks at government warehouses on March 1 were 27.1 million tonnes, more than three times the official target of 8.2 million tonnes for the quarter ending March 31, a government statement said on Tuesday.
Rice inventory for the same date was 35.8 million tonnes against a target of 11.8 million tonnes.
Bumper harvests of rice and wheat since 2007 have swelled supplies, leading to a shortage of space at government-run warehouses.
Mounds of rice and wheat rotting in the open have led to criticism of the government in a country of hundreds of millions of poor, malnourished people.
To get rid of some of the surplus stocks, the government has allowed private traders to export wheat and non-basmati rice.
The government has also permitted state-run trading companies to export up to 4.5 million tonnes of wheat exports from its own warehouses.
On Thursday, India allowed private traders to export an extra 5 million tonnes from government warehouses.
The government buys grains from farmers for programmes that try to ensure cheaper food for the poor and to meet emergencies.
Since 2009 the government has also been keeping an additional 3 million tonnes of wheat and 2 million tonnes of rice as strategic reserves over and above the monthly stocks.
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