The government has imposed a stock limit on wheat in a bid to manage the overall food security and to prevent hoarding and unscrupulous speculation. The limit has been imposed on traders, wholesalers, retailers, big chain retailers, and processors for all states and union territories, reports said.
The order comes into effect from 12 June 2023 and will remain in force till 31 March 2024 in all states and union territories.
According to reports, stock limits will be applied — 3000 metric tons (MT) for traders and wholesalers and 10 MT for retailers, etc.
The prices of wheat and atta reduced after the Centre offloaded wheat from its buffer stock the previous year and due to the arrival of fresh crops in the market. “We will ensure the prices remain stable. There is no chance of relaxing the ban on wheat exports this year even after the end of procurement,” said an official from the Department of Food and Public Distribution.
Respective legal entities have to declare the position of stocks and update them regularly on the department of food and public distribution portal. If the stocks held by them are higher, they have to bring it within the specified limits within 30 days of the issue of the notification, reports Pragativadi.
India imposed a ban on wheat exports in May this year, except on shipments under government-to-government arrangements. Union food and commerce minister Piyush Goyal said, “We do believe we will have to ensure adequate supplies for the Indian market. Once the procurement period is over, we believe it will be important that inflation is also contained in the country. Therefore it is important that the wheat exports continue to remain banned.”
The central government has also decided to offload wheat. Fifteen LMT of wheat will be offloaded in the first phase from the central pool stock under the open market sale scheme (domestic) 2023 to flour mills, private traders, bulk buyers, and manufacturers of wheat products through eAuction to control the retail prices of wheat.
