At least 94 per cent of the 1.16 lakh tonnes of wheat on offer were sold in the fifth round of e-auction on Wednesday, as part of the Centre’s Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) to tame rising foodgrain prices. This is a significant jump from the previous round in which 60 per cent was sold.
Though the volume of rice at the open sale increased to 100 tonnes from 10 tonnes in the previous round, it may not see any significant improvement unless guidelines are tweaked further.
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Last week, the government raised the upper limit from 100 tonnes per entity in a State to bid for 1,000 tonnes per region for each buyer. But, traders have been demanding a reduction in the reserve price from the current ₹3,100/quintal. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) offered 1.46 lt of rice from 178 depots across the country.
Weighted average price
The Food Ministry said in a statement that the government is committed towards price stabilisation to provide relief to the consumers by controlling retail prices of rice, wheat and (flour) through these e-auctions.
The weighted average selling price was ₹2,182.68/quintal for FAQ wheat against the reserve price of ₹2,150/quintal, whereas the weighted average selling price of URS wheat was ₹2,173.85/quintal against the reserve price of ₹2,125/quintal.
The weighted average selling price of rice was ₹3,151.10/quintal against its reserve price of ₹3,151.10/quintal.
Traders have been excluded from the wheat auction as the government wants real users of the grain, such as atta chakki and large flour millers, to take part in the bids. The minimum quantity for each round has been fixed at 10 tonnes, which many locals are not inclined to buy as it is on the higher side of their holding capacities. The maximum bidding quantity for wheat has been fixed at 100 tonnes per entity.