Centre imposes stock limit on Wheat until 31st March in all States and UTs
India has set wheat stock limits for retailers and processors, reduced or eliminated import taxes to stabilise prices. The move is aimed at curbing inflation and managing supplies, as the government is considering various measures to ensure wheat price stability in the market.
In order to manage the overall food security and to prevent hoarding and unscrupulous speculation, the Government of India has decided to impose stock limits on Wheat applicable to Traders/Wholesaler, Retailers, Big Chain Retailers and Processors for all States and Union Territories.
The Removal of Licensing Requirements, Stock Limits and Movement Restrictions on Specified Foodstuffs (Amendment) Order, 2024 has been issued with immediate effect from today and will be applicable until 31st March 2025 for all States and Union Territories, a government press release said.
Stock limits will be applicable to each entity individually such as Traders/Wholesaler- 3000 MT; Retailer- 10 MT for each of the Retail outlets; Big Chain Retailer- 10 MT for each outlet and 3000 MT at all their depots and Processors- 70 percent of Monthly Installed Capacity (MIC) multiplied by remaining months of FY 2024-25.
Respective legal entities, as above, will have to declare the stock position and update them regularly on the portal (https://evegoils.nic.in/wsp/login) of the Department of Food and Public Distribution and in case the stock held by them is higher than the prescribed limit then they have to bring the same to the prescribed stock limits within 30 days of issue of this notification.
The decision to impose stock limit on wheat has been taken at a time when the government is claiming a record wheat production of 1129 lakh tonnes in the country. But this year the government procurement being less than the target and now the decision to impose stock limit on wheat raises questions on the estimate of record production.
