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Informist, Wednesday, May 7, 2025

 

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--Govt source: Unlikely to impose stock limit on wheat in 2025-26
--Govt source: May not put cap on wheat stock as output, procurement high
--Govt source: Wheat output view may be raised in third advance estimate
--CONTEXT: Second advance estimate pegs wheat output at record 115.4 mln tn

 

By Pallavi Singhal

 

NEW DELHI – The government is unlikely to impose stock limits on wheat stored in warehouses in 2025-26 (Apr-Mar) as it is confident of meeting domestic demand due to robust wheat production and availability of sufficient stocks, a senior government official told Informist.

 

This comes after the government imposed stockholding restrictions on private trade of wheat over the past two years to control prices and curb hoarding, starting June 2023. The curbs expired on Mar. 31 this year.

Notably, new stock limits were announced on Jun. 24, 2024, after wheat arrivals had ended. These restrictions have disrupted trade by limiting bulk purchases. As a result, private traders have been hesitant to buy wheat in large quantities this year, fearing the re-imposition of stock limits. 

 

The governmement's procurement of wheat through the Food Corp. of India has been high during the 2025-26 rabi marketing season, at nearly 28 million tonnes as of Tuesday, up 19% from the same period last year. The acquired stock has also already breached last year's purchase of 26.6 million tonnes, up 5.1%. The procurement so far has also surpassed 84% of the revised target of 33.3 million tonnes for 2025-26.

 

With two months still left for procurement in many states, government officials expect India to meet its target for the first time in three years, even after two upward revisions from the initial target of 31.3 million tonnes.

 

For crop year 2024-25 (Jul-Jun), the agriculture ministry in its second advanced estimate had projected wheat output to hit a record 115.4 million tonnes, up from 113.3 million tonnes last year. According to the official mentioned above, the government believes that wheat production may be even higher than its projection. 

 

"We will not be surprised if the wheat production number is revised upwards by the third advanced estimates. Higher arrivals and even higher market availability is an indication of that," the official said.

 

Asked about the quantum of the revised production estimate, the official said it was too soon to know. "Our ground representatives are currently involved in carrying out a survey to give us these numbers," the official said.  End

 

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

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