Wheat prices rise as government stock sales begin

22-Aug-2024 08:54 PM

New Delhi. Despite the announcement made in July, Food Corporation of India (FCI) has not yet started the process of weekly e-auction of wheat under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS), due to which the prices of this important food grain have reached a very high level.

There is limited arrival of wheat in the markets of major producing states and there is a huge demand for it from millers and processors.

Flour millers of South India are not getting sufficient stock of wheat even at high prices, due to which the utilization of their capacity is getting reduced a lot.

Due to the imposition of a heavy import duty of 44 percent on wheat, it is not proving to be economically beneficial to import it from abroad.

Some millers of South India imported a little bit of high protein wheat of better quality from Australia, but it was imported only for the purpose of mixing it with Indian wheat.

In July itself, the Food Ministry had given permission to the Food Corporation of India to start the sale of wheat under OMSS and had also fixed its reserve price.

At that time it was said that FCI will soon decide the quantity and date of wheat sale after talking to the Food Ministry, but even after the third week of August has passed, there is no pressure on the open market as the sale process has not started yet.

During the festive season, the demand for flour as well as maida and semolina also increases a lot, so millers-processors are showing great interest in purchasing wheat.