This year, the government has sold 3.04 million tonnes (MT) of wheat to bulk buyers through the Food Corporation of India (FCI) under the open market sale system (OMSS) in an effort to lower prices.
The government wants to increase domestic supplies by selling 10 MT of wheat through OMSS by March 31, 2024. By the end of the current fiscal year, an official from the food ministry stated, “We will have a surplus of more than 10 MT of wheat after meeting buffer requirements.”
Against 0.3 MT offered for sale to flour millers and processors, the corporation sold 0.28 MT of wheat on Wednesday, the greatest amount sold in a weekly e-auction that started in June. In this week’s e-auction, 2389 buyers purchased the wheat. Compared to the buffer of 13.8 MT for January 1, FCI held 22.2 MT of wheat inventories at the start of the month.
The official from the food ministry stated that on Wednesday’s auction, the weighted average selling price of wheat under the open market sale programme was Rs 2309.52/quintal, compared to the reserve price of Rs 2127.56/quintal.
Sanjeev Chopra, secretary of the department of food, revealed lately that “we may sell more wheat in the open market, if needed to cool down the prices.”
In an effort to boost wheat supply on the market, the government has chosen to offer 0.3 MT of wheat starting this week, up from the 0.2 MT it had been selling in bulk to flour millers on a weekly basis since June.
