Government raises local wheat purchase price

Raises MSP by Rs 50 to Rs 1,400 per 100 kg

The government has raised the price the government will pay to farmers for next year's wheat to Rs 1,400 per 100 kg, up from Rs 1,350 per 100 kg a year earlier, said a government minister on Thursday.

India, the world's second-biggest rice and wheat producer, sets a price to buy the grains from local farmers to build reserves for running the its huge food welfare plan for the poor and protect growers from having to sell at a loss.

Increases in the purchase price every year has led to bumper harvests since 2007, boosting stocks at government warehouses, which are now overflowing, with extra grains stored under tarpaulin sheets.