FCI to sell 6.5 million tonnes wheat to bulk users via tender

The cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) has approved tender sale of 6.5 million tonnes of wheat by FCI to bulk consumers/traders.

The CCEA also approved sale of 5 lakh tonnes of wheat and 5 lakh tonnes of rice to retail consumers through state/UT governments and national cooperatives like NAFED, NCCF and Kendriya Bhandar under open market sale scheme.

The sale of wheat / rice under OMSS (domestic) will increase the availability of these commodities in the market and will have moderating influence on prices of wheat and rice in the open market during the festival season, an official release said.

Open market sale of government wheat stock to bulk consumers, including flour mills and biscuit and bread manufacturers, will help check rising prices of wheat products while also easing government's surplus stocks.

Retail prices of wheat flour in the domestic market are hovering around Rs21 per kg, against the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat of Rs12.85 per kg.

The government has, since June 2012, released about 3 million tonnes of wheat to bulk consumers in the country.

The country harvested a bumper wheat crop of 93.90 million tonnes in the 2011-12 crop year (July-June) while the government procured a record 38.1 million tones of the foodgrain.

Wheat stocks in the central pool stood at 40.58 million tonnes at the end of October 2012.