Amid price rise, Indian govt doubles weekly wheat auction quantity

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cap stays. Weekly auction allocation raised to 1.99 lakh tonnes; experts doubt impact as maximum purchase limit per bidder remains unchanged

By BL New Delhi Bureau

Updated - October 31, 2026 at 08:32 PM. | New Delhi

The government has doubled the wheat quantity offered in the Food Corporation of India’s (FCI) weekly tender for November 4, as prices rise amid dwindling stocks. However, experts doubt the move will cool prices as the maximum quantity a single bidder can purchase each week remains unchanged.

According to 22 State-wise tenders floated on October 30-31, FCI will auction 1.99 lakh tonnes (lt) on November 4, against 1.01 lt offered on October 28. Despite traders being barred from participating, FCI sold 99,316 tonnes, or 98.3 per cent of the quantity offered, in the previous round, with several States reporting 100 per cent offtake.

Higher allocations

The allocation for Punjab has been raised to 44,000 tonnes from 25,000 tonnes in the October 28 auction. Haryana's allocation has increased to 23,000 tonnes from 12,000 tonnes, Uttar Pradesh's to 14,000 tonnes from 8,000 tonnes and Madhya Pradesh's to 10,000 tonnes from 6,000 tonnes.

Allocations for Assam, Delhi and Karnataka have been raised to 12,000 tonnes each from 5,000 tonnes. Gujarat and Rajasthan will get 8,000 tonnes each, against 4,500 tonnes and 4,000 tonnes, respectively, earlier. Tamil Nadu and Puducherry have been allocated 10,200 tonnes, against 4,000 tonnes in the previous auction.

Review sought

A day before the government increased the weekly auction quantity, Ashish Garg, President of the Delhi-based MSME Welfare Association, wrote to Food Minister Pralhad Joshi seeking a review of reserve prices, lot sizes, quantity restrictions and other sale conditions. The aim, he said, was to ensure that genuine millers, processors and other eligible buyers could access wheat at competitive prices.

He also sought the Minister's intervention to strengthen bidder verification and penalise fraudulent bidders. Pointing out that FCI had sold wheat under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) at prices 20-30 per cent above market rates because of differences in sale conditions, Garg urged the Minister to ensure more effective utilisation of public wheat stocks to prevent avoidable price increases and protect consumers from rising food costs.

Published on October 31, 2026

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