Govt sells 2.84 LT wheat, 5,830 tonnes of rice from buffer stock to check retail prices

The government 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 as part of efforts to control retail prices by offloading food grains in the open market.

The food ministry said in an official statement that the 21st e-auction was held on November 15, wherein 3 lakh tonnes of wheat and 1.79 lakh tonnes of rice were offered under Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) Domestic. The statement said that 2.84 lakh tonnes of wheat along with 5,830 tonnes of rice were sold to 2,334 bidders.

As part of the central government's initiative for market intervention to control the retail price of rice, wheat and atta, weekly e-auctions of both wheat and rice are conducted by the government. The Food Corporation of India, the government's nodal agency for procurement and distribution of food grains, is offloading wheat from its buffer stock under OMSS.

The ministry said the weighted average selling price was Rs 2,246.86 per quintal for Fair Average Quality (FAQ) wheat against the reserve price of Rs 2,150 per quintal pan India whereas weighted average selling price of Under Relaxed Specification (URS) wheat was Rs 2,232.35 per quintal against the reserve price of Rs 2,125 per quintal.

Moreover, 2.5 lakh tonnes of wheat have been allocated to semi-government and cooperative organisations like Kendriya Bhandar, NCCF, NAFED under OMSS (D) for converting wheat to atta and offer it for sale to the public under 'Bharat Atta' brand at a Maximum Retail Price (MRP) not exceeding Rs 27.50 per kilogram, the ministry said.

Till November 14 this year, 15,337 tonnes wheat have been lifted by these three cooperative societies for further conversion into atta. Traders are kept out of the ambit of wheat sale under OMSS (D) and till November 14, 1,917 random checks have been made across the country in order to avoid hoarding of stocks.