The limit for traders and wholesalers has been squeezed to 500 tonnes of wheat, from 1,000 tonnes earlier, the government said in a statement on Thursday. 

“Officials of Central and state governments will be closely monitoring enforcement of these stock limits to ensure that no artificial scarcity of wheat is created in the country,” the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution said in the statement.

The government has taken a series of measures to tame food inflation and ensure availability of key kitchen staples–essential, especially considering the upcoming national election.

Big retail chains can continue to hold 5 tonnes of wheat in each depot. But the overall stock they can hold across all their depots has been halved to 500 tonnes.

For processors, the limit has been lowered to 60% of monthly installed capacity until April, from 70% earlier.

“In case the stocks held by the above entities are higher than the above-prescribed limit, they shall have to bring the same to the prescribed stock limits within 30 days of the issue of the notification,” the government said in its statement. 

“All wheat stocking entities are required to register on the wheat stock limit portal and update the stock position every Friday,” it added. “Any entity which is found to have not registered on the portal or violated the stock limits will be subject to suitable punitive action under Sections 6 & 7 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.” 

The Centre had in early December halved the stock limit on wheat for wholesalers to 1,000 tonnes.

The government has taken a series of steps under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) to ensure food security. 

A quantity of 10.15 million tonnes of wheat at a subsidised price of ₹2,150 per quintal has been allocated for calibrated release into the domestic open market by the Food Corporation of India (FCI), through weekly e-auctions. 

An additional 250,000 tonnes was allowed to be offloaded under OMSS between January and March if required. 

So far, FCI has offloaded 8.4 million tonnes to processors through weekly e-auctions, which has increased the availability of wheat in the open market at affordable prices. 

FCI is also issuing wheat to Central the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (Nafed), the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Ltd (NCCF), and Kendriya Bhandar for processing and subsequent sale under the government’s ‘Bharat Atta’ brand of wheat at a subsidised price of ₹27.50 per kg. 

Areas where prices are reigning higher have been identified, and the agencies are undertaking targeted sales in these areas. About 750,000 tonnes of wheat have been allocated for sale under the ‘Bharat Atta’ brand, according to the food ministry.

Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das, in a briefing on Thursday following the regulator’s rate-setting meeting, said the inflation trend was still somewhat volatile due to rising food prices. The central bank maintained its 5.4% inflation projection for 2023–2024.

As per a Mint poll of economists, however, India’s retail inflation is likely to have moderated to a three-month low of 5.00% in January, from 5.69% in December, mainly on account of cooling food inflation.

The government has been taking several measures recently to rein in food prices, as the Consumer Food Price Index, which accounts for nearly half of the overall consumer price basket, rose to 9.5% in December from 8.7% in November.

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Published: 08 Feb 2024, 07:48 PM IST