December 6, 2005

 

India plans 400,000 tonnes open market wheat sale
 

 

India's federal government plans to sell about 400,000 tonnes of wheat in the open market in the four months to March 2006, to ensure price stability and ample supplies for domestic consumers, a senior government official said Tuesday.

 

"We have enough stocks at hand, and plan to sell at least 100,000 tonnes to flour mills every month from December to March," the official told Dow Jones Newswires.

 

He said the government could release more, over and above this quantity, if the need arises.

 

The open market sales are planned in addition to the supply of wheat to consumers at subsidised rates under government welfare programmes, the official said.

 

In India, the government sells wheat to flour mills at predetermined rates to supplement open market supplies.

 

The official expressed satisfaction at current stock levels with the government, estimated at 7.7 million tonnes, as of Dec 1.

 

"On average, we are releasing a total of about 1.4 million tonnes of wheat every month under various welfare and subsidised programmes," he said.

 

The official said local wheat prices have ranged from steady to lower in recent weeks on good supplies and reports of satisfactory progress in sowing of the commodity.

 

In New Delhi, wheat and wheat flour retail prices were being quoted at Rs9.0/kilogramme and Rs10.0/kilogramme, respectively, unchanged on the month.

 

Wheat sowing in India rose 19.3 percent on-year between Nov 1 and Dec 5 to 14.2 million hectares, according to the latest data from the agriculture ministry. This is up from 11.9 million hectares in the same period the previous year.

 

In India, wheat is sown in November and December and harvested in March.