Govt Sells Buffer Stock Of Wheat And Rice To Keep Retail Prices In Check

The Union Government said on 16 November that it has sold 2,84 lakh tonnes of wheat and 5,830 tonnes of rice from its buffer stock to 2,334 bidders through an e-auction. This was done as part of its efforts to regulate retail prices by dumping food grains on the open market.

The food ministry said in an official statement that 3 lakh tonnes of wheat and 1.79 lakh tonnes of rice were auctioned under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) Domestic at the 21st e-auction, which took place on 15 November.

According to the government, 2,334 bidders purchased 2,84 lakh tonnes of wheat and 5,830 tonnes of rice.

The government holds weekly online auctions for both wheat and rice as part of its central government initiative to intervene in the market and control the retail pricing of these three commodities: rice, wheat, and atta. Wheat is being offloaded from its buffer stock under OMSS by the Food Corporation of India, the government's designated agency for the acquisition and distribution of food grains.

According to the ministry, the average selling price of wheat classified as Fair Average Quality (FAQ) was found to be Rs 2,246.86 per quintal, while the average selling price of wheat classified as Under Relaxed Specification (URS) was found to be Rs 2,232.35 per quintal, against the reserve price of Rs 2,125 per quintal throughout India.

Additionally, the ministry stated that 2.5 lakh tonnes of wheat have been given to cooperative and semi-government organisations like Kendriya Bhandar, NCCF, and NAFED under OMSS (D) for the purpose of turning the grain into atta and selling it to the general public under the 'Bharat Atta' brand for a Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of no more than Rs 27.50 per kilogram. These three cooperative societies have lifted 15,337 tonnes of wheat so far this year, November 14, in order to be further processed into atta.

Under OMSS (D), traders are excluded from the wheat sale's scope, and as of November 14, 1,917 arbitrary inspections were conducted nationwide to prevent stock hoarding.

With inputs from PTI