QR Tags on Grain Bags: Centre to Scale Up Pilot to Track FCI Food grains, Curb Recycling

• Centre will QR-tag FCI bags in Andhra, Telangana, Odisha for 20 lakh tonnes of rice this season.

• QR traces each bag to procurement centre, agency, season; scanned at godowns and fair-price shops.

• ePoS at fair-price shops will capture QR for auto-bills and streamlined subsidy in Public Distribution System.

The Centre has decided to expand its QR tagging initiative for Food Corporation of India (FCI) foodgrain bags, with plans to implement the system across three states -- Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha -- in the ongoing marketing season.

The plan will cover 20 lakh tonnes of rice moved from milling points to distribution centres.

The move, aimed at tracking end-to-end movement of foodgrains and curbing the recycling of grain bags, follows a successful pilot in Andhra Pradesh for rice in December 2025-January 2026, and in Punjab for wheat during April-May 2026.

"We are planning to put QR tags on foodgrain bags transported from procurement states to distribution states," a senior Food Ministry official told PTI.

"In the ongoing marketing season, we are going to do this in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha for rice." Under the expanded pilot, select districts from each of the three states will be covered. Approximately 10 lakh tonnes of rice will be moved with QR tagging from milling points in Andhra Pradesh to distributing states, while Telangana and Odisha will account for 5 lakh tonnes each.

The QR tagging system enables authorities to trace each bag back to its procurement centre, the agency that procured it, and the season it belongs to. Bags are scanned randomly at godowns during storage, and again at fair-price shops at the point of distribution.

"We are able to trace from which procurement centres, which procurement agencies, and which season the grain belongs to," the official said.

In an additional step being piloted at the distribution stage, the electronic point-of-sale (ePoS) device at fair price shops will capture the QR code - allowing officials to establish which season's grain is being distributed. This is expected to enable the auto-generation of bills, streamlining subsidy disbursal.

"Currently, a subsidy is given at the distribution stage. With QR tagging, we would know exactly which foodgrains are being distributed. Auto-generation of bills will be tried subsequently," the official added.

The initiative is expected to bring greater accountability into the Public Distribution System by making the journey of every grain bag - from miller to beneficiary - digitally traceable.