The average price of wheat in Wednesday’s auction held by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) ruled flat, while the offtake dipped to 93 per cent from 96 per cent in the previous week as open market rates in both retail and wholesale have declined.

The government has so far sold 89.47 lakh tonnes (lt) since it started selling wheat to augment open market availability from June 28.

Out of 5 lt offered in the weekly auction held on February 21, as much as 4.63 lt got sold, Food Ministry sources said. The government increased the offer quantity by 50,000 tonnes from February 7 in the weekly auction.

The average selling price of wheat was  ₹2,237.15/quintal on Wednesday against  ₹2,236.11 in the previous week. It was  ₹2,172.94 on December 13, 2023. The government has kept the reserve price of wheat in the auction at ₹2,130, which is much below the economic cost of the grain which is now  ₹2,703.

Karnataka fetches more

In the current round, the average selling price in the eastern region was at  ₹ 2,310, which was more than the minimum support price of  ₹2,275 (for next season starting April) whereas in other regions prices were between  ₹2,197 and  ₹2,251, except in north-east where it was ₹2,351.14/quintal.

In Karnataka, the highest bidding price was ₹2,650 on Wednesday, industry sources said, adding some particular variety at a particular depot in the State always commands the highest rates. The highest bidding price was  ₹2,520 in West Bengal,  ₹2,425 in Jharkhand,  ₹2,430 in Uttar Pradesh,  ₹2,475 in Maharashtra,  ₹2,330 in Gujarat,  ₹2,360 in Rajasthan and ₹2,255 in Madhya Pradesh.

Meanwhile, official data show that the pan India average retail prices of wheat declined to  ₹30.88/kg (0.68 per cent) and rice increased to  ₹44.11/kg (0.34 per cent) in a week as of February 20. The average wholesale prices of wheat, too, declined to  ₹2,748/quintal (0.76 per cent) and rice increased to  ₹3,876/quinta (0.07 per cent) in a week as on February 20.

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