To reduce the price of wheat and atta, the Department of Food & PD, in consultation with the Ministry of Finance on Friday decided that the reserve price for the sale of wheat under OMSS will be Rs 2350/Qtl (Pan India) for FAQ and Rs. 2300/Qtl (Pan India) for URS wheat of all crops including RMS 2023-24 without adding any transportation cost component.
To reduce the price of wheat and atta, the Department of Food & PD, in consultation with the Ministry of Finance on Friday decided that the reserve price for the sale of wheat under OMSS will be Rs 2350/Qtl (Pan India) for FAQ and Rs. 2300/Qtl (Pan India) for URS wheat of all crops including RMS 2023-24 without adding any transportation cost component.
The ministry stated that this is to help the supply of wheat to the general public in different parts of the country at a reasonable price.
“The States may be allowed to purchase wheat from FCI for their own scheme at above reserve prices without participating in e-auction,” the ministry said in its statement.
As per the statement, the rate of wheat has been reduced to Rs. 21.50/Kg for sale to NCCF/NAFED/ Kendriya Bhandar/State Govt. Cooperatives/ Federations etc. as well as community kitchens/charitable/NGOs etc engaged in relief operations/ running relief camps for migrant laborers/vulnerable groups.
This concessional rate for NCCF/NAFED/Kendriya Bhandar/state government cooperatives/federations, etc., will be applicable with the stipulation that they will convert wheat to atta and offer it to the public at an MRP not exceeding 27.50 per kg.
This comes after a meeting of the Committee of Ministers under the chairmanship of Home Minister Amit Shah was held on 25th January regarding the prices of essential commodities. The committee hence decided to release 30 LMT wheat from FCI stock through Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) as follows:
25 LMT be offered through the e-auction route to traders, flour mills, etc as per the usual process followed by FCI. Bidders can participate in e-auction for a maximum quantity of 3000 MT per region per auction.2 LMT be offered to State Governments for their schemes @10,000 MT/State without e-auction.
2 LMT be offered to State Governments for their schemes @10,000 MT/State without e-auction.3 LMT be offered to Govt PSUs/cooperatives/Federations such as Kendriya Bhandar/NCCF/NAFED etc without e-auction. This will be subject to the stipulation that they convert wheat to atta and offer it to the public at an MRP not exceeding Rs 29.50/kg.
Subsequently, this Department made an allocation of 3 LMT of wheat to Kendriya Bhandar/ NAFED /NCCF as per their requisitions. Kendriya Bhandar, NAFED, and NCCF were allocated 1.32 LMT, 1 LMT, and 0.68 LMT respectively.
The ministry added that during the inaugural e-auction, which was held on the 1st and 2nd of February 2023, FCI sold 9.26 LMT of wheat out of 25 LMT to traders, flour mills, and other buyers.
Post announcement of OMSS Policy, the GoI has noted that market prices for wheat are still relatively high. Additionally, it has been noted that states far from Punjab, Haryana, and Madhya Pradesh have extremely high auction rates, particularly in the North-East, Eastern, and Southern regions, as a result of the inclusion of freight charges in base pricing for auction under OMSS.
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