Early procurement set to boost wheat stocks
Centre has procured a third of all wheat arrivals totalling 600,000 tonnes as of April 3 compared to procurement of just 350,000 tonnes in the year-ago period
The Centre’s purchases of wheat for government-held inventories, currently at a seven-year low, is on course to reach a three-year high in 2024-25 due to an early start to procurement operations and a bountiful crop following two straight years of lower output, official data shows.

A bumper harvest of 112 million tonne, as has been officially projected, is critical this year as the government’s stocks – needed to provide free grains to 800 million beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act – have plunged to a seven-year low.
India’s foodgrain production was estimated to have been 6.1% lower in the 2023-24 crop year (July-June) because of poor monsoon caused by the El Nino weather pattern, adding to inflationary pressures. Wheat output was 100 million tonne in 2023-24.
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Sufficient procurement, which refers to the government’s purchases of farm produce at federally fixed floor prices, is also vital this year because the government’s wheat inventories are barely above the buffer or mandatory emergency reserve of 7.6 million tonnes as on April 1.
Wheat reserves in state-run granaries totalled 9.7 million tonnes on March 1, down from 11.7 million tonnes in March 2023, according to official figures.
If inventories go below the buffer requirement, it will be for the first time since 2016 that the buffer norm will be breached. To ensure robust wheat procurement, the Union government issued instructions to states to start procurement of wheat at minimum support prices (MSP) from March 1, earlier than usual, and transfer payments to farmers’ accounts within 48 hours, a senior official said.
Two years of poor output prompted the Union government to sell a record 10 million tonne of wheat in the open market to boost supplies and curb record cereal inflation.
“We have pulled back the procurement cycle and got a handle on issues plaguing the procurement process in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan,” Union food secretary Sanjeev Chopra said on Thursday.
The government has procured a third of all wheat arrivals totalling 600,000 tonnes as on April 3 compared to procurement of just 350,000 tonnes in the year-ago period, the food ministry’s data show.
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Another key reason for state wheat reserves plunging to a record low is because the government had missed its wheat-procurement target for two years in a row. In 2023-24 season, the government procured 26.2 million tonnes against a target of 34.15 million tonnes.
In 2022-23, the government could buy only 18.8 million tonnes against a target of 44.4 million tonnes. This year, therefore, the government started procurement on March 1, instead of the usual April 1. The procurement target this year is 31 million tonnes.
Wheat is sown in November and harvested during March-April.
“Given that India was lucky to have escaped any crop-damaging heatwaves and the government has set a realistic procurement target, the government looks set to procure more than it has in the past three years, two of which were bad crop years,” said Abhishek Agrawal, an analyst with Comtrade.
The government has drawn up elaborate plans to start aggressive procurement in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan, three states that produce sufficient wheat but where procurement has traditionally lagged, Chopra said.
The three states would usually contribute no more than 2-3 million tonne of state-owned wheat stocks. Last year, they did just 650,000 tonnes. “The target this year is to procure at least 5 million tonnes from these states,” the food secretary said.
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To ensure higher levels of procurement in these three states, the government has increased wheat-buying centres from about 10,000 in 2023-24 to about 12,253 in 2024-25.
Wheat inflation in the world’s second-largest grower, which climbed to record highs in the aftermath of the Ukraine war, has moderated to about 5% on an annual basis due to aggressive supply-side measures undertaken by the government.
The government has resisted calls for importing wheat, which currently attracts a 40% tax and instead dipped into state reserve to boost supplies.
In 2022, India banned wheat exports after a wheat wave trimmed output, even as export demand rose due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The government is in no hurry to reverse the ban despite an expected bumper crop, the food secretary said.
