OMSS price hike for bulk buyers may push market wheat cost up

To exhaust surplus wheat stocks held with various state procuring agencies and Food Corporation of India (FCI) from Punjab, the government has fixed OMSS prices at R1,484 per quintal which is an increase of R199 over the minimum support price offered to the farmers.

The OMSS wheat prices for Punjab has been taken as base price besides consuming states would have to pay taxes and freight over it. At present, Punjab has a wheat stocks of more than 13.6 million tonne which is far above the storage capacities available with state agencies.

“We want to upload excess stocks in the market so that we can create space for new crop,” said food minister KV Thomas.

Under OMSS pricing for Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, the government has fixed the prices of wheat grown in the state at R1,414 per quintal and R1,403 per quintal respectively while grain coming from Punjab would have higher prices.

“Prices of wheat is expected to go up as the government has decided to upload OMSS wheat at market rate,” said Adi Narayan Gupta, the president of Roller Flour Millers Federation of India. OMSS was launched in 2008-09 to sell excess stocks to bulk buyers.

According to data available with the department of consumer affairs, retail prices in Delhi and Mumbai have been stable at R19 and R25 per kg, respectively, in last one

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