Food Corporation of India floats tenders to sell 4.07 lt wheat, 3.86 lt rice
Food Corporation of India (FCI) will sell through online auction nearly 8,000 tonnes of foodgrains on Wednesday (5 July) as part of the government’s efforts to cool domestic prices of wheat and rice. According to government tenders issued over the past three days, the government has offered to sell 4.07 liters of wheat and 3.86 liters of rice under the Open Market Sale System (OMSS).
In a shift from its previous policy, the government decided to conduct the online auction every week. Earlier, it was supposed to be on alternating weeks, one pill type a week.
Punjab allocated more
Officials said that with the exception of three countries, where minor adjustments were made in the allocation, all other countries were allocated the same amount as they were in the first round of bidding. Only 85,580 tons of wheat were sold, at an average of ₹2,136/quintal, against the 4.08 liters offered in the first round of online auctions held last week.
On the other hand, in the first round of the electronic rice auction, Punjab was allocated 1.5 liters, accounting for 39 percent of the total quantity offered.
“Since Punjab’s stock is in excess, supply is also higher,” said an official source. However, the traders said the allotment was not justified as many consuming countries did not receive an adequate amount while Punjab, which is predominantly wheat consuming, received huge allotment.
Skip 5 states in rice
There is no rice auction advertised in Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Assam, Chhattisgarh and Telangana. Officials said that due to the continuous purchase of cultivated fields of rapi, some countries have been excluded because there is a potential for recycling. However, the mill owners said that because of the fixed reserve price at $3,100/quintal, there was no room for recycling.
In the current season (October-September), the government buys the majority of the rice at ₹2,060, which comes to ₹3,075 in terms of rice.
Bihar allocated 30,000 tonnes of rice in the first online auction, while Uttar Pradesh got 15,000 tonnes and West Bengal 2,300 tonnes. Odisha 10,000 tons, Jharkhand 17,000 tons, Andhra Pradesh 7,000 tons, Karnataka 33,000 tons and Kerala 10,000 tons.
Conditions such as bidders must have an FSSAI license and cannot resell rice to bulk buyers, as in a wheat auction, were retained in the rice tender as well. Likewise, the limit of 100 tons per entity as well as having a GST number in a state to be eligible to participate in that country was retained in the guidelines for rice auctions.