More Stories

Informist, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026

 

By Udita S. Jaiswal

 

MUMBAI – Prices of wheat fell in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, on Tuesday due to low demand and oversupply in the market, a trader said. In other key spot markets, prices remained steady. Prices of rice and maize were steady in the key spot markets due to lack of fresh cues. Prices of non-basmati rice are expected to remain steady due to a seasonal slowdown in demand, while prices of maize and wheat are expected to remain range-bound with a downward bias due to the arrival of rabi crop, they said.

 

WHEAT prices in Indore fell by INR 20 per 100 kg to INR 2,800 per 100 kg due to low demand and oversupply in the market, said Gaurav Kochar, a local trader. "Stockists are selling away their stocks ahead of new crop arrival, which is leading to downward prices," Kochar said. He expects wheat prices to fall further in the near term, as new arrivals begin in February. Prices of wheat in Vashi, Navi Mumbai, were unchanged at INR 3,000 per 100 kg, a wholesale trader Devendra Vora said. Wheat prices in Kota, Rajasthan, were steady at INR 2,540–INR 2,570 per 100 kg, Ravi Mehta, a local trader, said. Arrivals in the Kota market fell 7,000 bags to 10,000 bags (1 bag = 50 kg).

 

Friday, government allowed export of 500,000 tonnes of wheat products from India. However, Rahul Chauhan, director at IGrain India, said he does not see overseas demand for wheat products in the near term but it will rise gradually. The quantity of wheat products permitted for export is too insignificant to have any meaningful impact on prices, traders said.

 

Additionally, the acreage under wheat as on Friday was up nearly 2% at 33.4 million hectares compared with 32.8 million hectares in the corresponding period a year ago, according to a press release from the agriculture ministry Monday. This strengthened hopes of a bumper crop this year. Wheat, the biggest rabi crop, is grown only in the rabi season in India.

 

Prices of the main varieties of RICE were steady in Vashi. Prices of the 1401 and 1121 varieties of basmati rice were INR 8,000-INR 8,200 per 100 kg and INR 8,400-INR 8,800 per 100 kg, respectively, Vora said. "There is subdued demand for rice in the market," he said.

 

Prices of sona masoori rice, a premium non-basmati variety, were also steady at INR 5,600-INR 5,800 per 100 kg at Bhavanipuram in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, said Ravi Shankar, a trader. "Prices are expected to remain steady for around two months, as there is very little demand in the market," Shankar said. Typically, demand for rice is low this time of the year as consumers shift to wheat and maize during festivals, he said.

 

The acreage under paddy was 2.6 million hectares as of Friday, an increase of 22% from 2.1 million hectares last year, according to a release from the agriculture ministry.

 

Prices of MAIZE in Indore were largely steady at INR 1,780 per 100 kg due to lack of fresh cues, Kochar said. Kochar expects maize prices to fall in the near term as new arrivals will begin shortly. Maize prices in Davanagere, Karnataka, also remained unchanged at INR 1,700-INR 1,950 per 100 kg, said Shiva Kumar, a local trader. Arrivals in the Karnataka market were largely steady at 2,000 bags (1 bag = 60 kg), he said. Prices remained steady amid tepid market activity, he said. Maize acreage rose 10% to 2.76 million hectares as of Friday.  End

 

Edited by Nishant Maher

 

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

 

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd. by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt. Ltd.

 

Informist Media Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

 

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

 

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2026. All rights reserved.