Twenty-five lakh metric tonnes of wheat is offered for sale starting from the first week of February (1st February 2023) under the Open Market Sale Scheme – Domestic (OMSS-D) – for which tenders are uploaded by the regional offices of Food Corporation of India (FCI), Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution said on Friday.
Buyers willing to purchase wheat stocks may get empanelled themselves with FCI’s e-auction Service Provider “m-Junction Services and bid for stocks. The empanelment process would be completed within 72 hours for any party who wish to register their names. Stocks are offered from all states of the country to ensure that the rising prices are controlled immediately.
To address the rising price of wheat and atta (wheat flour) in the country, it was decided that FCI would make available 30 LMT wheat in the market through various routes under the Open Market Sale Scheme (Domestic). FCI has started the process of e-auction of stocks within 24 hours of the announcement of this scheme, throughout the country.
Offloading of 30 LMT wheat in the market through OMSS -D scheme within a span of two months through multiple channels will have a wider reach as well as an immediate impact on the soaring wheat and atta prices and will help contain the rising prices and will bring much relief to the common man.
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Since its inception in 1965, FCI has made a significant contribution to realising the dream of making India a self-sufficient country in food. Today, it procures around 1300 LMT foodgrains (wheat and paddy) annually.
It would be worth mentioning here that the procurement of foodgrains is not evenly spread over the country. While production in some states is highly surplus in terms of their requirements, the others are deficit either partially or fully. Hence, to make available foodgrains for the vulnerable section of society, in each and every corner of the country, FCI undertakes movement of foodgrains on mass-scale. Around 600 LMT foodgrains are moved annually to various corners of the country from major procuring states like Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
To facilitate the storage and movement of foodgrains, FCI operates around 2,000 depots including about 500 of its own depots throughout the country. In terms of infrastructure, it has enhanced its storage capacity from 6 LMT in 1965 to more than 800 lakh MT at present.
