To check the rate of inflation, the Government has approved sale of more wheat and rice to consumers. The decision comes within 24 hours of the ‘Samvad Baithak ’ (dialogue meet) between the Congress and the Government, where various economic issues were discussed.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) took this decision on Saturday after a hurriedly convened meet. “It (the CCEA) has approved allocation of 65 lakh tonnes of wheat for tender sale by FCI to bulk consumers or traders,” an official statement said. It has also been decided to allocate 5 lakh tonnes wheat and 5 lakh tonnes rice for sale to retail consumers.
This will be done through the State Governments and administrators of Union Territories as well as national cooperatives such as NAFED, NCCF and Kendriya Bhandar under the Open Market Sale Scheme .
Increase supply
The sale of wheat and rice under the open market scheme will increase availability of these commodities and will help moderate their prices in the open market. The rate of inflation for both wheat and rice have been on the rise (table). The Government had released about 3 million tonnes of wheat for bulk consumers starting June.
In Delhi, the price of wheat had shot up by about 20-25 per cent since April on rising demand and dwindling supplies, as the Government, the largest stockholder, was a bit slow in releasing the stock.
The Government is the largest buyer of wheat. It had procured around 95 per cent of the market arrivals or 38.1 million tonnes from the 2011-12 crop at a price of Rs 1,285 a quintal.
Wheat stocks with Government agencies as on November 1 stood at 40.57 million tonnes, almost thrice the prescribed buffer and strategic reserves of 14 million tonnes as on October 1.
The country harvested a record 93.9 million tonnes in 2011-12. For the 2012-13 season, the Government is targeting production of 86 million tonnes.
Sowing for the rabi season has already commenced, and as on November 8, the area under wheat stood at 21.83 lakh hectare.
shishir.sinha@thehindu.co.in