Govt sold 15.05L tons of wheat, rice till Nov 20

New Delhi: The government, which is sitting on a huge stock of over 600 lakh tonnes of foodgrain, has sold 15.05 lakh tonnes of wheat and rice in the open market so far this fiscal, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Food Danve Raosaheb Dadarao said about 8.99 lakh tonnes of wheat and 6.06 lakh tonnes of rice has been sold through the open market sale scheme (OMSS) till November 20 of this year. The government, through the Food Corporation of India (FCI), sells wheat and rice to bulk consumer/traders/state governments from the central pool at pre-determined prices in the open market from time to time through e-tender to enhance the supply in lean season and check prices.

It aims to sell 100 lakh tonnes of wheat and 50 lakh tonnes of rice under OMSS during the ongoing 2019-20 fiscal.

In 2018-19 financial year, the government had sold 90.30 lakh tonnes of foodgrain, comprising 81.84 lakh tonnes of wheat and 8.46 lakh tonnes of rice.