Good Sales of Wheat in New Auction Under OMSS

15-Jan-2026 12:20 PM

New Delhi: The e-auction process for the sale of wheat under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) by the Food Corporation of India (FCI), which was suspended in December 2025, resumed on January 14th. In this new auction, millers and processors showed good interest in purchasing government wheat.

Notably, during the auctions held in November-December 2025, the Food Corporation was only able to sell 36.40 percent of the total wheat offered, but in the auction held on January 14, 2026, it succeeded in selling 92 percent of the wheat.

One of the main reasons for this success is that this time the offer for wheat sale was reduced from 2 lakh tonnes to one lakh tonnes, of which approximately 92 percent, i.e., 92,000 tonnes, was sold.

In some states, including Punjab, Haryana, and Assam, the entire quantity of wheat offered was sold. This clearly indicates that flour millers and processors in these states had limited stocks of wheat.

In each of the auctions held in November-December 2025, 2 lakh tonnes of wheat were offered for sale, while in the first auction of January 2026, the quantity offered was reduced by 50 percent.

It is understood that the Food Corporation of India wanted to assess the market situation through this auction and may plan its future strategy based on the response. Wheat imports are limited in most markets of the country, and there are indications of rising prices.

Millers/processors in Punjab and Haryana benefit from reduced transportation costs, which is why there is higher demand for government wheat in these states.

In Punjab, the demand for wheat exceeded the quantity offered. According to a flour miller, there is no stock of wheat available in the mandis (wholesale markets) of Punjab, while the demand is very high; therefore,

the Food Corporation should allocate one lakh tonnes of wheat for sale specifically to this state. Separate offers should be provided for other states.