The Food Corporation of India (FCI) has been able to sell as much as 5.40 lakh tonnes (lt) of wheat in the fourth round of e-auction. However, the average selling price has increased by ₹22/quintal from the last auction, which may force the Government to re-strategise its sales plan.

“As a part of the Government’s initiative towards market intervention to control the price of wheat and atta, the fourth round of e-auction to offload wheat under the open market sale scheme (OMSS) was held on Wednesday. A total quantity of 11.57 lt wheat was offered and 5.40 lt was sold to 1,049 bidders in 23 States,” the Food Ministry said in a statement.

The all-India weighted average selling price was ₹2,193.82/quintal in the fourth round of e-auction, ₹2,172.08 in the third round, ₹2,338.01 in the second round and ₹2,474 in the first round. The Government was earlier expecting a continuous fall in the sales prices to reflect in retail markets.

In the fourth round, the lot of 100-499 tonnes had maximum demand followed by 500-999 tonnes and then 50-100 tonnes. Some bids were received for the maximum quantity of 3,000 tonnes, the ministry said.

After Wednesday’s auction, the cumulative wheat sold under OMSS has gone up to 23.47 lt against the overall allocation of 45 lt. Also, 14.35 lt has already been lifted until February 28. The sale has brought a significant effect in cooling down the price of wheat and atta all over the country which is likely to remain stabilised with the future tenders for the open sale of wheat under OMSS, the Ministry said.

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