Wheat flour rates soar to ₹40- ₹60/kg in Punjab due to grain shortage

By Gurpreet Singh Nibber

Wheat flour prices in Punjab have soared to ₹40 to ₹60/kg due to a shortage of grains in the flour mills.

This has led to a rise of ₹10-15/kg in the rates of other byproducts, with refined wheat flour (maida) costing ₹45/kg in the retail market. If the situation prevails, the prices of other food items, including bread, may also see a rise.

Punjab roller flour millers’ association head Naresh Ghai, who has been in the business for the last 35 years, said he has never witnessed such a severe shortage. “Our stocks have finished; we are bringing stocks from Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to manage day-to-day operations,” he said, adding that the state government should push the Centre for a special package.

The state has 85 large-scale roller flour mills which process 2 lakh tonnes of wheat into flour and other byproducts every month.

Ghai further revealed, “Every Wednesday for three hours, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) auctions wheat stock under the open market sale scheme (OMSS). The scarcity is so severe that the bids are going as high as ₹3,100 a quintal, against the reserve price of ₹2,325 a quintal.”

Officials of the state food and civil supplies department have feigned helplessness, stating that all stocks procured from the state are the property of the Centre and the Union ministry of food and PDS has to take a call on a special package to the state

Why the shortage?

Experts attribute the shortage to the procurement for the central pool. They said that 132 lakh tonnes of wheat had reached the state mandis during the 2024 rabi procurement season, out of which, 125 lakh tonnes was procured by the Centre while traders could buy only 8 lakh tonnes, which lasted only a few months.

As of now, the granary in Punjab has 34 lakh tonnes of wheat, which is to be moved to other states under the public distribution system.

Experts say Punjab cannot be compared with other wheat-producing states as they have private storage and purchase system, while Punjab has been under the control of government agencies.

Sources revealed that the Centre had promised to launch weekly open market sales in July last year, but it was launched five months later, on December 1, which led to the shortage.

According to FCI (Punjab) general manager B Srinivasan er there is no scarcity, but more stocks are being pushed into the market to deal with any shortage.

“The wheat prices in OMSS auction touched ₹3,100 per quintal two weeks ago but it has come down to ₹2,500 per quintal,” he added.

This article has been republished from The Hindustan Times.