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The Hindu
The Hindu
National
The Hindu Bureau

FCI to sell wheat in open market to rein in prices

The Food Corporation of India (FCI), through its Open Market Sale Scheme-Domestic (OMSS-D), will sell food grains (wheat) in the open market at subsidised prices fixed by the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution through e-auction in order to control the price in the market. Under the scheme, FCI will sell the wheat to processors/flour millers of wheat products only through e-auction, and traders and bulk buyers would not be allowed to take part.

An eligible bidder can bid for a minimum quantity of 10 MT and for maximum quantity of 200 MT. The maximum quantity of 200 MT is against one PAN card and GST/Trade Tax Registration, of the State/UT concerned.

FCI AP Region General Manager Chandrasekhar Joshi, in a press release on Monday, stated that the Department of Food & Public Distribution has decided to offload 2.50 Lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of wheat at a price of ₹21.50 a kg to semi-government and cooperative organisations such as  Kendriya Bhandar, National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Limited (NCCF) and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) under the OMSS (D) for converting said allocated wheat to atta and offer it for sale to the public under ‘Bharat Atta’ brand at an MRP not exceeding ₹27.50 a kg, he said.

All the other terms and conditions announced in this regard on February 10, 2023 remain unchanged.  In the case of rice, traders are also eligible and can bid a minimum quantity of 10 MT and maximum  quantity of 1,000 MTs. To participate in e-auction, the bidder must have a valid FSSAI license, GST/Trade Tax Registration, PAN card and must declare the existing stock holding in the WSP portal (https://evegolis.nic.in/wsp/login) of the Govt. of India in the case of wheat.

For e-auction on November 15, 2023, the FCI has offered 2,700 MT of wheat and 9,000 MT of rice in Andhra Pradesh, including 50 MTs of wheat for the Union Territory of Port Blair. The wheat purchased by the bidder from FCI under OMSS (D) must be processed to wheat products and released to the market for sale within 30 days from the last date of lifting and submit relevant documents of processing and its release in the open market, he added.

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