To cool down the prices, the government has offloaded 3.04 million tonne (MT) of wheat under the open market sale scheme (OMSS) by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to bulk buyers this year.
The government is aiming to sell 10 MT of wheat through OMSS till March 31, 2024 to boost domestic supplies. “We will have a surplus of more than 10 MT of wheat after meeting buffer requirements by the end of current fiscal,” a food ministry official said.
On Wednesday, the corporation sold 0.28 MT of wheat, which was the highest quantity sold in a weekly e-auction commenced in June, against 0.3 MT offered on sale for the flour millers and processors. The wheat was sold to 2389 bidders in this week’s e-auction.
To increase availability of wheat in the market, the government has decided to offer 0.3 MT of wheat from this week from 0.2 MT offered to bulk purchasers such as flour millers weekly since June.
At the beginning of the month, FCI had 22.2 MT of wheat stocks against the buffer of 13.8 MT for January 1.
According to the food ministry official, the weighted average selling price of wheat under open market sale scheme on Wednesday’s auction was Rs 2309.52/quintal against the reserve price of Rs 2127.56/quintal.
“We may sell more wheat in the open market, if needed to cool down the prices,” Sanjeev Chopra, secretary, department of food, recently said.