The central government released a mandate on Friday, February 2, asking various entities in all states and union territories to declare the stock position of rice and paddy at regular intervals. The government has also decided to increase the quantity of wheat being offered under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) in the weekly auctions to 5 LMT, along with an upgrade in the lot size to 400 MT.
Wholesalers, retailers, big chain retailers and processors have been asked to declare stock positions of broken rice, non-basmati white rice, parboiled rice, basmati rice and paddy every Friday on the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution's stock management system.
The stock position of rice shall be declared by these entities within a week of issue of the order on the government website. The mandate has been released to manage food inflation and prevent unethical speculations.
The government has also decided to start retail sales of rice under the ‘Bharat Rice’ brand through three agencies, namely, the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED), the National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India Limited (NCCF) and Kendriya Bhandar. In the first phase, 5 LMT of rice has been allotted for retail sale to general consumers at a retail price of ₹29/kg in 5 kg and 10 kg bags.
The all-India average domestic wholesale and retail price of wheat is showing a decreasing trend over the past month and year. The Department of Food and Public Distribution is also maintaining a close watch over the stock position to control prices and ensure easy availability.
A total of 101.5 LMT of wheat has also been allocated by the government for offloading under the Open Market Sale Scheme (Domestic) (OMSS-D) at a reserve price of ₹2,150/quintal for fair and average quality (FAQ) and ₹2,125/quintal for under-reduced specifications (URS).
The weekly offering of wheat in the e-auction is also being gradually increased from 2 LMT to the present weekly offering of 4.5 LMT, to increase availability and cater to domestic demand.
Edible oil prices
With decreasing trends in the prices of major edible oils like crude soyabean oil, crude sunflower oil, crude palm oil and refined palm oils, the price trends have been passed in the domestic market. The retail prices of mustard oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil and RBD palmolien oil decreased by 18.32%, 17.07%, 23.81% and 12.01%, as of February 1, 2024, respectively, over a year.
The basic duty on crude palm oil, crude soyabean oil and crude sunflower oil was reduced from 2.5% to nil. Further, the agri cess on these oils was slashed from 20% to 5%. This duty structure will be applicable till March 31, 2025.
The basic duty on refined soyabean oil, refined sunflower oil and refined palm oils has been reduced to 12.5%. This duty has also been extended up to March 31, 2025.
