FCI sells 3.85 lakh tonne wheat in open market in second round of e-auction
1 min read 16 Feb 2023, 02:54 PM ISTUnder OMSS, the government allows FCI to sell foodgrains, especially wheat and rice, at predetermined prices in the open market from time to time to bulk consumers and private traders.
PremiumNew Delhi: Food Corp of India sold 3.85 3.85 lakh tonne of wheat of the 15.25 lakh tonne on offer in the second round of e-auction held on 15 February, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution said in a statement.
The Centre had last month said it would offload 3.0 million tonne of the essential commodity from its buffer stock under Open Market Sale Scheme to check the rise in wheat prices.
“In the second e-auction, quantities ranging from 100 to 499 MT had maximum demand followed by quantities of 500-1,000 MT, followed by 50-100 MT indicating that small and medium flour millers and traders actively participated in the auction. Only five bids were received for the maximum quantity of 3,000 MT at one go," the ministry said.
Weighted average rate of ₹2,338 per quintal was realised by FCI in the auction.
E-auctions will be conducted every Wednesday till 15 March.
Under OMSS, the government allows FCI to sell foodgrains, especially wheat and rice, at predetermined prices in the open market from time to time to bulk consumers and private traders.
The government has reserved 300,000 tonne of wheat for cooperatives and federations like Kendriya Bhandar, NCCF and NAFED for sale at a concessional rate of ₹2,350 per 100 kg, for conversion to atta price of which will be capped at ₹29.50 per kg. NCCF has been allowed to lift 50,000 tonne of wheat under the scheme across seven states.
According to the ministry, 100,000 tonne of wheat has been allocated to NAFED and Kendriya Bhandar each under the scheme to bring down the price of atta across the country.
