Mills want govt to announce open market sale of 4mt wheat in Nov, tendering in Dec

Wheat flour manufacturers have demanded that the government announce the open market sale of 4 million metric tonnes of wheat in November and begin the tendering process in December to keep wheat prices under control.

The Centre has stopped the sale of wheat in the open market for the first time in more than a decade, as government procurement fell by about 56% in the 2021-22 wheat marketing season.

Representatives of Roller Flour Millers' Federation of India (RFMFI) met officials of the food ministry and Food Corporation of India (FCI) on Tuesday where the demand was raised.


“As timing of announcing the policy is essential for keeping prices under control, we have suggested that the policy announcement be made in November and the tenders be floated from December,” said Pramod Kumar S, president, RFMFI. “An announcement of the total quantity of wheat which may be released during the entire tenure of four months be announced, which, we feel, should be around four million metric tonnes, which shall be effective for the purpose.”

The Cntre used to sell surplus wheat in the open market to liquidate the excess wheat it used to procure at the minimum support price (MSP). However, as the government procurement declined by more than 50% due to exports and a fall in domestic wheat production, the food ministry did not announce any open market sale (OMS) scheme for 2022-23.

Food secretary Sudhanshu Pandey had on Monday made it clear that the government had a stock of 22.7 million tonnes in the central pool as on October 1, 2022, as against the buffer norm of 20.5 million tonnes for the same date.

Claiming shortage in availability of wheat and speculative rise in prices, the wheat flour manufacturers had been demanding that the government announce the OMS scheme. After the government announced the stock position of wheat on Monday, the millers said they feel assured of getting wheat under the OMS scheme.

"The tender sale should be on a weekly basis,” said Navneet Chitalangia, vice president, RFMIFI. “There should be an upper limit for the quantity which any buyer may tender for in any tender, which we feel should be around 1,000 tonnes for the retail tenders from local depots and in case of dedicated movement, the same may be restricted to one railway rake. This shall help 'actual users' in sourcing their requirements, which in turn will have a cooling effect in the market," he said.