Govt’s wheat sales cross 8 MT, against target of 10 MT
The government’s open market sale of wheat from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) stock on Wednesday crossed 8 million tonne (MT) with a record sales of 0.47 MT in the weekly e-auction for bulk buyers.
To curb spike prices, the government is aiming to sell a record 10 MT of wheat this fiscal since e-auction for the bulk buyers commenced in June.
The corporation had sold 3.3 MT of wheat in the open market in 2022-23. The highest quantity of wheat sold was 8.1 MT in 2018-19 for bulk buyers such as flour millers.
Wheat stock with FCI on Wednesday was 13 MT, lowest since 2016 against the buffer of 13.8 MT for January 1. Following the offloading of 10 MT of wheat in the market, the government stock is likely to fall to a buffer of 7.4 MT by April 1.
As per earlier policy, the corporation had been selling surplus wheat to bulk buyers like flour millers only during the lean season (January-March).
The wheat was sold in Wednesday’s auction at an average price of Rs 2259/quintal against the reserve prices of Rs 2129/quintal, under the open market sale.
The price realised is just above the current season’s minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 2125/quintal.
Inflation in wheat declined further to 4.69% in December from 6.36% in November on year because of improvement in supplies due to open market sale being carried out by the FCI.
Procurement of wheat for the 2024-25 marketing season (April-June) would commence from April 1.
Meanwhile, the food ministry in a statement said that 0.27 MT flour has been sold under the Bharat Atta initiative.
Under Bharat Atta initiative, FCI has allocated 0.4 MT of wheat to Kendriya Bhandar, farmers’ cooperatives Nafed and National Cooperative Consumers Federation (NCCF) for converting into ‘Bharat Atta’ which is being sold to consumers at Rs 27.5/Kg.
Food minister Goyal has said that the FCI’s OMSS has proved to be an effective tool in moderating the prices of essential commodities like wheat. “Bharat Atta, Bharat Dal, interventions regarding Onion and Tomato have assisted Government of India in price stabilization,” Goyal had said.
Source Link: https://www.financialexpress.com/policy/economy-govts-wheat-sales-cross-8-mt-against-target-of-10-mt-3387428/
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