Wheat supply and availability situation likely to remain complex

11-Sep-2024 08:18 PM

New Delhi. According to official data, at the beginning of the current month, there was a stock of 251.46 lakh tonnes of wheat in the central pool,

which was 16.66 lakh tonnes less than the stock of 268.12 lakh tonnes at the beginning of August and 8.91 lakh tonnes less than the stock of 260.37 lakh tonnes available on 1 September 2023.

Earlier in the year 2022, a stock of 248.22 lakh tonnes of wheat was left on 1 September. The Union Food Ministry and Food Corporation of India (FCI) are in a dilemma about starting the process of selling wheat from the central pool through weekly e-auction under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS). However,

announcing this in July itself, the minimum reserve price of wheat was fixed and it seemed that government wheat would start reaching the millers / processors from August.

But the month of August passed in waiting and now 11 days of the month of September have also passed but there is no clear indication of starting the sale of wheat yet.

This shows that the government is afraid that the situation of supply and availability of wheat will remain complicated in the coming months.

The festive season has already started while the demand for wheat is likely to increase in the coming weeks.

The price level is much higher than the MSP and the expenses of the common people have increased. The government is probably waiting for the right time because the stock is limited and the new crop is far away.