CHANDIGARH: The Union Government has adopted a highly conservative approach under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) for the financial year 2026-27 by introducing a revised pricing structure. As a result, surplus states such as Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have been excluded from the e-auction process, despite Punjab holding the largest stock of rice in the country.
The Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution last week issued an order dated July 2 stating that "the sale of rice to state governments under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) is restricted only to non-surplus states that require additional rice to meet the requirements of their own notified schemes."
Principal Secretary, Food Supplies, Punjab, Rahul Tewari said that the state government has sought a clarification from the union government as why Punjab has been excluded from the scheme and why it has no benefit for the state, as the decision is detrimental to the interest of the state.
The Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD), in Central Government has revised the reserve price of 100 per cent broken rice under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS), reducing it from 2,320 per quintal to 2,000 per quintal. This revision is being viewed as a positive step for the industry, but as per revised policy, Punjab, which is the country's largest custom milling state, has been excluded from the OMSS e-auction process. As a result, the price revision has become largely ineffective for Punjab's rice millers.
Punjab has huge food grain stocks 180 LTM of rice and 135 LMT of wheat of the last season which has choked the godowns of the state.
The Punjab Rice Industry Association had repeatedly represented this issue to the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, the Chairman and Managing Director of FCI, and the Secretary, Department of Food and Public Distribution, requesting that Punjab be included in the OMSS e-auctions so that rice millers could dispose of their accumulated stocks of broken rice.
However, despite revising the reserve price, the Union Government has not extended the e-auction facility to Punjab.
Ranjit Singh Jossan, Vice-President of the Punjab Rice Industry Association, said, "At present, Punjab's rice millers are holding approximately 97,000 metric tonnes of 100 per cent broken rice, which has remained in storage for the past eight months, resulting in significant financial losses, blocked working capital, and additional storage costs. Until Punjab is permitted to participate in the OMSS e-auctions, there is no practical mechanism for disposing of these stocks. We believe that while the reduction in the reserve price is a welcome decision, excluding the state that holds the country's largest inventory of 100 per cent broken rice defeats the very objective of the policy and leaves one fundamental question unanswered: How will the accumulated broken rice stocks lying with Punjab's rice millers be cleared?’’
Sources said that the central foodgrain stocks have reached an unprecedented level of approximately 91.6 million tonnes, representing the highest stock position ever recorded in the Central Pool.
According to official figures, the Food Corporation of India currently holds nearly 40 million tonnes of rice and 51 million tonnes of wheat, providing the country with a substantial strategic reserve against any potential disruption in foodgrain production.
The present inventory in the country is significantly higher than the prescribed buffer norms for July 1. The Union Government's minimum buffer requirement stands at 13.54 million tonnes of rice and 27.58 million tonnes of wheat, indicating that current stocks exceed the mandatory reserve by a wide margin. Such abundant availability is considered more than adequate to ensure uninterrupted supplies for the Public Distribution System (PDS), added sources.
"The present rice stock figures do not include more than 27 million tonnes of rice that are yet to be delivered to the Food Corporation of India by rice millers under ongoing custom milling operations. Once these deliveries are completed, the total rice inventory available in the Central Pool will increase substantially, further strengthening India's food security reserves and enhancing the government's capacity to manage any future supply disruptions,’’ Jossan said.
Under the OMSS policy approved for the current financial year, approximately 4.8 million tonnes of rice have been allocated from Food Corporation of India stocks for various state government welfare schemes. These allocations will continue to support food assistance programmes, nutrition initiatives and other public welfare measures designed for economically weaker sections of society.
Bharat Bhushan Binta, President, Punjab Rice Industry Association said that maintaining higher foodgrain inventories during the initial months of the kharif season provides the government with greater flexibility to respond to any production shortfall later in the year.
He said this strategy also ensures that sufficient stocks remain available for public welfare programmes and market intervention if adverse weather conditions continue during the remainder of the monsoon season.