Government Wheat Sales Continue to Perform Poorly

20-Feb-2026 10:59 AM

New Delhi. Government wheat sales continue to perform poorly at weekly e-auctions conducted by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) under the Open Market Sales Scheme (OMSS). Flour millers and processors are showing little interest in purchasing wheat.

The Food Corporation had hoped that wheat sales would increase after the export quota for wheat products was increased from 500,000 tons to 100,000 tons, but this did not materialize. The Food Corporation has a large stock of wheat.

According to official data, the Food Corporation offered 140,000 tons of wheat for sale in the February 18 auction, while actual sales amounted to only 61,440 tons, or 44%. In the previous week, only 50% of wheat was sold.

Significantly, millers/processors in Uttar Pradesh, who had previously shown significant interest in government wheat procurement, largely abstained from the February 18 auction, with only one flour miller participating.

The new marketing season for government wheat procurement typically begins on April 1st, but in some states, arrivals and procurement of early-sown crops begin as early as the third or fourth week of March. Anticipating a bumper harvest, millers/processors are purchasing limited quantities of government wheat.

In the auction held on February 18th in Uttar Pradesh, 10,500 tons of wheat were on offer, but only one miller participated, purchasing only 1 percent of the total offer, leaving 99 percent unsold. Wheat is available in the open market at lower prices than government procurement, and its supply is also smooth.