Strong Participation by Flour Millers and Processors in Government Wheat Procurement

New Delhi. Although the reserve price for wheat sold by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) has been set significantly higher this time, flour millers and processors are showing keen interest in its procurement. In the first auction of the current financial year, the FCI offered 1.05 lakh tonnes of wheat, of which 86,245 tonnes—or 82 percent—was sold. Flour millers, processors, and particularly biscuit manufacturers require wheat stocks ahead of Diwali, which has driven their active participation in purchasing this government-held grain.

E-auctions for the sale of wheat under the OMSS were conducted across more than 20 states, with substantial sales recorded in major consuming regions. This includes states like Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, which are significant contributors to the central wheat pool.

In the eastern states—including Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh, where wheat production is very low—nearly the entire allocated quota was utilized. In South India, wheat production is either non-existent or negligible. In Punjab, 20,000 tonnes were offered, and in Haryana, 9,000 tonnes; in both cases, almost the entire quantity was sold. Meanwhile, in Uttar Pradesh, 7,125 tonnes were sold out of an offer of 9,000 tonnes.