FCI sells 100,000 tn wheat, 100 tn rice in 5th e-auction to control price

State-owned Food Corporation of India (FCI) on Wednesday sold 1.06 lakh tonnes of wheat and 100 tonnes of rice in the 5th e-auction of 2023-24.

In order to control the retail price of rice, wheat and atta, the FCI organises weekly e-auctions.

The government is committed towards price stabilization and its market intervention is aimed at providing relief to the consumers, the food ministry said in a release.

"A quantity of 1.16 lakh tonne wheat from 361 depots and 1.46 lakh tonne rice from 178 depots were offered from across the country," it said.

The weighted average selling price was Rs. 2182.68/qtl for fair average quality (FAQ) wheat against the reserve price of Rs. 2150/qtl Pan India whereas weighted average selling price of URS wheat was Rs. 2173.85/qtl against the reserve price of Rs. 2125/qtl.

The weighted average selling price was Rs. 3151.10/qtl for rice against the reserve price of Rs. 3151.10/qtl Pan India.

In the current tranche of e-auctions, the reduction in retail price is being targeted by offering up to 100 tons maximum for a buyer for wheat and 1000 tons for rice, the ministry said.

This decision is to encourage small and marginal end users and to ensure that more participants could come forward and bid for the quantity from their depot of choice, it added.