Stocks Having Risen Above 40 Million Tonnes, FCI to Auction Off 10 Million Tonnes of Wheat In 2019-20

With as much as 40 million tonnes of wheat stocks having piled up with the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the institution has now decided to sell as much as 10 million tonnes of wheat to bulk consumers this fiscal (2019-20), reports The Hindu BusinessLine.

The decision to sell 10 million tonnes of wheat gains significance given the figure is a 40 per cent rise over the 7 million tonne figure from the previous year.

FCI, which is the nodal agency of the government for procurement and distribution of grains, will be selling the wheat through an e-auction under the open market sale scheme throughout the fiscal year except during the procurement period in the wheat growing states at a base price of Rs 2,080 per quintal which would be increased by Rs 55 every quarter.

The said base price would hold for three main wheat producing states, namely, Haryana, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh. For other states, the freight charges at Ex-Ludhiana will be added to the base rate.