NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday announced that it will sell additional 50 lakh tonnes of wheat and 25 lakh tonnes of rice from the central pool in the open market to contain the price rise.

“There has been a sharp increase in prices of wheat and rice recently…The government has decided to offload 50 lakh tonnes wheat and 25 lakh tonnes wheat under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS),” Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra told reporters.
This is over and above the 15 lakh tonnes of wheat and 5 lakh tonnes of rice sale under the OMSS announced a few months ago, he added.

So far, about 7 lakh tonnes of wheat has been sold through e-auction under the OMSS, while the rice sale has been negligible, he said.