15 LMT of wheat to be offloaded in the first phase from central pool stock under Open Market Sale Scheme
The quantity of rice to be offloaded is to be decided shortly
New Delhi: In a move to manage overall food security and to prevent hoarding and unscrupulous speculation, the Centre today imposed stock limits on the wheat applicable to all traders including wholesalers, retailers, big chain retailers and processors for all States and Union Territories.
For this purpose, the Central Government issued the Removal of Licensing Requirements, Stock Limits and Movement Restrictions on Specified Foodstuffs (Amendment) Order, 2023, with immediate effect from today. It will be applicable until March 31, 2024, for all States and Union Territories.
Stock limits will be applied to each entity individually such as Traders/Wholesaler- 3000 Metric Tonnes; Retailer- 10 MT for each of the Retail outlets; Big Chain Retailer- 10 MT for each outlet and 3000 MT at all their depots and Processors- 75% of annual installed capacity.
Respective legal entities, as above, have to declare the stocks position and update them regularly on the portal (https://evegoils.nic.in/wsp/login) of the Department of Food and Public Distribution and in case the stocks held by them are higher than the prescribed limit then they have to bring the same to the prescribed stock limits within 30 days of issue of this notification.
Further, Central Government has also decided to offload the wheat wherein 15 LMT of wheat will be offloaded in the first phase from central pool stock under the Open Market Sale Scheme (Domestic) (OMSS (D)) 2023 to flour mills/private traders/bulk buyers/manufacturers of wheat products through e-auction to control retail prices of wheat. Wheat will be sold in lot sizes of 10-100 MT. Registration for this auction is open on the Food Corporation of India’s e-auction platform.
It has also been decided to offload rice under OMSS in order to moderate the prices. The quantity for the first phase of the e-auction for rice will be decided shortly.
The imposition of stock limits on wheat along with offloading of wheat and rice under OMSS is part of the consistent efforts made by the Government to stabilise the prices of essential commodities, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, stated here. It said the Department of Food and Public Distribution is closely monitoring the stock position of wheat and rice to control the prices and ensure easy availability in the country. Earlier, the Department of Consumer Affairs had, on June 2, 2023, imposed stock limits on Tur and Urad by invoking the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 in order to prevent hoarding and unscrupulous speculation and also to improve affordability to the consumers. Under the order, stock limits were prescribed for Tur and Urad until October 31, 2023, for all states and UTs. Stock limits applicable to each of the pulse individually were 200 MT for wholesalers; 5 MT for retailers; 5 MT at each retail outlet and 200 MT at the depot for big chain retailers; last 3 months of production or 25% of annual installed capacity, whichever was higher, for the millers. The order also made it mandatory for these entities to declare their stock position.
– global bihari bureau
