Centre has launched the sale of ‘Bharat’ Atta at an MRP of Rs. 27.50/Kg

Mr. Piyush Goyal, the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Textiles, Commerce and Industry, and Trade and Industry, flagged off 100 mobile vans from Kartavya Path in New Delhi on November 6, 2023, to sell wheat flour (atta) under the "Bharat" brand. The maximum retail price (MRP) per kg of atta that will be charged is Rs. 27.50.

The Government of India (GoI) has been taking steps to improve the welfare of regular customers, and this is one of them. In addition to increasing market availability at competitive pricing, the introduction of retail sales for the "Bharat" brand Atta will support ongoing price moderation of this crucial food item.

'Bharat' Atta will be available starting today at all Kendriya Bhandar, NAFED, and NCCF physical and mobile outlets. It will also be extended to other co-ops and retail outlets.

Under the Open Market Sale Scheme [OMSS (D)], 2.5 LMT of wheat at a price of Rs. 21.50/kg has been allotted for semi-government and cooperative organisations, such as Kendriya Bhandar, NCCF, and NAFED. These organisations would convert the wheat into atta and sell it to the general public under the 'Bharat Atta' brand, with a maximum retail price of Rs. 27.50/kg.

Speaking at the event, Mr. Piyush Goyal claimed that the price of necessities has stabilised thanks to the Centre's action. He claimed that a number of steps had been taken in the past to lower prices in relation to onions and tomatoes. In order to help customers, the Centre also offers Bharat Dal through Kendriya Bhandar, NAFED, and NCCF at Rs. 60 per kg.

He went on to say that farmers have benefited greatly from all of these efforts. According to Mr. Piyush Goyal, the Centre purchases farmers' produce and then provides it to customers at a discounted price.

These three organisations already sell Bharat Dal (Chana dal) at Rs. 60 per kg for a 1 kg pack and Rs. 55 per kg for a 30 kg pack through their physical and/or retail locations. Onions are also sold there for Rs. 25 per kg. With the introduction of "Bharat" Atta, customers may now purchase onions, dal, and atta from these establishments at reasonable and fair costs.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), the purchased wheat and rice are provided to around 80 crores PDS beneficiaries for free via a nationwide network of roughly 5 lakh FPS. Additionally, in 2022-23, approximately 7 LMT of coarse grains/millets were provided under TPDS/Other Welfare Schemes after being purchased at MSP.

The Food Corporation of India (FCI) is holding weekly online auctions around the country to sell wheat under OMSS(D). These weekly e-auctions are only open to wheat processors (Atta chakkis/roller flour mills).

As part of a series of steps to lower wheat prices, the Government of India has significantly increased the total amount of wheat to be offered for sale under OMSS (D) to 101.5 LMT until March 2024, instead of 57 LMT until December 2023.

The Indian government is keeping a careful eye on edible oil retail costs domestically to make sure that end users fully benefit from lower overseas pricing.

The Department of Consumer Affairs uses 545 price monitoring centres spread across 34 States and UTs. to keep an eye on the daily retail and wholesale prices of 22 essential food commodities. In order to make the right decisions regarding the release of stocks from the buffer to lower prices, the imposition of stock limits to discourage hoarding, and the modification of trade policy tools such as import duty rationalisation, import quota adjustments, and commodity export limitations, among other things, the daily price report and indicative price trends are carefully analysed.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.