Centre has imposed a stockholding limit on wheat for retailers, wholesalers, processors and big-chain retailers. For big chain retailers it would be 10 tonnes per outlet with an overall limit for 3,000 tonnes and for single retailers it would be 10 tonnes. The stock limit has been imposed in view of recent media reports that the prices of essential commodities are increasing including wheat.
The opening stock of wheat was 82 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) on April 1, 2023 while it was 75 LMT on April 1, 2024 but 266 LMT was procured last year, while this year the government has procured 262 LMT and procurement is still on. From today, retailers, wholesalers and processors would be expected to maintain a certain stock of wheat until March 31, 2025.
Presentation- Dibyabharati Nayak