Flour millers urge government to start wheat sales as soon as possible

22-Aug-2024 11:45 AM

New Delhi. In view of the falling supply and rising prices in wholesale markets, flour millers have urged the Union Food Ministry and Food Corporation of India (FCI) to start wheat sales under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) as soon as possible.

The open market price of wheat has jumped to a nine-month high, while it is expected to rise further in the festive season.

If the government does not unload the wheat stock from its warehouses as soon as possible, a serious crisis may arise.

Flour millers of South India are facing great difficulty due to the government's policy because there is no or negligible wheat production there.

According to the millers, the supply of wheat is decreasing day by day and the overall supply situation looks worse than last year.

The government should not delay now in unloading wheat from its stock in the open market. According to the millers, the price of wheat was running at Rs 24000 per tonne in April, which has now jumped to Rs 28000 per tonne. It may increase further in the future.

Last year, the government started weekly e-auction of wheat under OMSS from the last week of June and about 100 lakh tonnes of wheat was sold between June 2023 and February 2024.

This shows how much wheat was needed by the flour millers / processors. This year too, the requirement is the same or more and the government cannot ignore this reality for long.

The Food Ministry has already announced the start of wheat sales and its minimum reserve price has also been determined, but the third week of August is about to pass but the auction process has not started yet.

A hefty customs duty of 40 percent is imposed on the import of wheat, which has also made it difficult to import it from abroad. Millers of South India are having to reduce the use of their capacity.