New Delhi, Feb 12 (IANS): The Centrally-sponsored pilot scheme on "Fortification of Rice & its Distribution under Public Distribution System", for a period of 3 years beginning in 2019-20 with total outlay of Rs 174.64 crore, is underway in 11 states, the Parliament was told on Friday.

The pilot scheme focuses on 15 districts across 15 states, preferably 1 district per state. Out of 15 states which consented for the pilot scheme, so far 11, namely Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Jharkhand have reported distribution of fortified rice in their identified districts under the pilot scheme, Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ashwini Kumar Choubey told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

So far 3.64 lakh metric ton (LMT) of fortified rice has been distributed under the Pilot Scheme, he said.

The incremental cost at 73 paise per Kg is uniformly reimbursed by the states/UTs to the millers for production of fortified rice and shared between the Centre and the states/UTs in the ratio of 90:10 in case of northeast, hilly and island States/UTs, and 75:25 in case of rest.