-Reuters Cotton farmer Ravindra Krishna Patil in Maharashtra should be feeling flush after strong monsoon rains and a good crop, but high costs have cast a pall over his preparations for the festive season. Instead of splashing out on gold jewellery, appliances or maybe even a car during the biggest shopping season of the year, 28-year-old Patil must count his rupees after costs of everything from fuel to labour soared while cotton...

The Planning Commission's laughable estimates of the ‘poverty line' follow from a mistake in method that it made 30 years ago and has clung to ever since. The affidavit that the Planning Commission recently submitted before the Supreme Court stating that a person is to be considered ‘poor' only if his or her monthly spending is below Rs.781 (Rs.26 a day) in the rural areas and Rs.965 (Rs.32 a day) in...

India’s domestic wheat prices higher than international rates by around $100 per tonne; traders seek subsidy India’s food ministry will oppose a proposal to export wheat as it prefers to distribute the excess to the poor within the country, K.V. Thomas, Union minister of state (independent charge) for consumer affairs, food and public distribution, said on Thursday. “We want the wheat produced by our farmers to be distributed here first,” Thomas said,...

From next year, atta,bread,biscuits ,snacks and everything made from maida and sooji will become seriously more expensive. Even after a bumper crop, there just won't be enoughwheat for us. ET helps you join the dots. The trigger for wheat inflation that will hit each one of us is the Food Security Act, which kickstarts next year. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) will need substantially more wheat to supply three...

The empowered group of ministers (eGoM) recently decided on two important steps seen crucial for management of foodgrains. The first was the finalization of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and, secondly, extending the term of the Nandan Nilekani committee to explore the possibility of introducing cash transfers for delivering food subsidy directly to the poor. Another linked decision was to allow exports of wheat and rice to international markets. The...