Bharat Atta to cost ₹2 less as govt aims to put lid on prices

The government on Monday cut the price of state-produced Bharat Atta by ₹2 a kg from ₹29.50 per kg to keep prices in check amid festival season demand.

Launching the scheme, which was announced in February this year, Union consumer affairs, food and public distribution minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday that semi-government and cooperative organizations such as the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) and the National Cooperative Consumers Federation of India Ltd (NCCF) and Kendriya Bhandar will lift 250,000 tonnes of wheat at ₹21.50 per kg under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) for converting to atta.

This will be offered for sale to the public as ‘Bharat Atta’ at an MRP of ₹ 27.50 a kg through 800 mobile vans and 2,000 retail outlets.

“This is the latest among a series of steps taken by the GoI for the welfare of ordinary consumers. The launch of retail sales of Bharat Atta will increase supplies in the market at an affordable rate and will help in the continued moderation of prices of this important food item,” Goyal said.

On 2 November, Mint reported the government was planning to offload a quarter of a million tonnes of wheat into the country’s vast food distribution system and offer cut-price whole wheat flour made from it in the run-up to the last festival season of its term.

Under the plan, the Centre would slash the price of Bharat Atta to ₹27.50 per kg from the existing ₹29.50 a kg.

The Union government in February announced the scheme to offload 300,000 tonnes of wheat from the Food Corp. of India (FCI) to Kendriya Bhandar, NAFED and NCCF and sell flour as Bharat Atta at ₹29.50 per kg to check inflation, which was discontinued after some time.

“In February, we distributed about 80,000 tonnes of atta through these entities. However, the new crop came in, and there was no pressure on prices. Hence, we discontinued it. Now, we see that this is a very critical period. The new crop will come around March-April. For the remaining two to three months, there is a historical tendency for prices to rise. To ensure that we are able to control these prices and target this particular scheme wherever there’s any report of high prices or non-availability— that’s the reason why this scheme is being implemented widely,” union food secretary Sanjeev Chopra said.

The government has also been selling chana dal under the ‘Bharat’ brand at ₹60 per kg and ₹55 per kg for a 30 kg bag through Kendriya Bhandar fair price shops, NAFED and NCCF. Similarly, the government took various measures to cool tomato and onion prices.

“Policy interventions by the government aim to benefit farmers as well as consumers, which is in line with PM Narendra Modi’s vision. For the farmers, the government fixes MSP (Minimum Support Price) of foodgrains, pulses as well as coarse grains and millets. Nationwide procurement operations are undertaken to implement the PSS (Price Support Scheme) which ensures the benefit of MSP to farmers. In Rabi Marketing Season 2023-24, 26.2 million tonnes of wheat were procured from 2.1 million farmers at the declared MSP of ₹ 2,125 per quintal. The total value of procured wheat was ₹55,679.73 crore. In Kharif Marketing Season 2022-23, 569 MT of rice was procured from 12.4 million farmers at the declared MSP of ₹ 2,060 per quintal for Grade ‘A’ paddy. The total value of procured rice was ₹.1.74 trillion,” Goyal said.

“The produce of farmers is being purchased by the Centre and thereafter, is being provided to the consumers at a subsidized rate,” Goyal added.