GoM may meet today to take stock of open market wheat sale

Ministers might also consider demands of flour millers

A high-powered group of ministers may meet today to take stock of the government’s ongoing sale of excess wheat in the domestic market.

According to a senior government official, the ministers apart from taking stock of the sale process might also consider some of the demand of the flour millers. One of the key demand of the millers is that government should pay for the transportation cost of the wheat sold.

“The GoM is expected to consider all these points,” a senior official said.

The government has plans to sell around 8.5 million tonne of wheat through the open market till March 2014 before the new procurement season starts.

However, till date it has managed to sell just about 1 million tonne due to lukewarm response from traders.

It had earlier tweaked a policy and allowed millers to purchase wheat from state-level depots of the Food Corporation of India (FCI), while earlier the wheat was sold only from depots located in Punjab and Haryana.

India’s wheat production in 2012-13 crop marketing year that started from April stood at 92.46 million tonne, marginally less than the 94.88 million tonne produced in 2012-13.