M A I N   N E W S

Private players buy bulk of wheat
Ruchika M. Khanna
Tribune News Service

Khanna, April 9
Private players seem to have taken over wheat purchase from government agencies here. Be it online trading for flour mills in other states or the entry of domestic and global agri-retail business houses, the corporates seem to have finally arrived in the largest grain market of Asia here.

From tomorrow, a global farm retail giant through its Indian subsidiary Kargil India Private Limited will be purchasing wheat stocks, stated the company’s local partner here, Mr Raj Sood. “The company proposes to lift over 1 lakh tonnes of wheat from Khanna, Karnal and Delhi this year,” said Mr Sood.

Last year, a private company, NCDX, started online trading of the wheat and paddy stocks from here. The company provides for warehousing facility — they purchase wheat from farmers and keep them in cold storage till the time a suitable buyer is found. The farmer is initially given some remuneration by the NCDX and the balance is given after his stocks are sold.

Mr Anuj Paliwal from the NCDX, however, declined to reveal how much stocks they will be lifting from the market this year. “Other than Khanna market, we will also be lifting stocks from Abohar and Moga,” he said.

During a visit to this grain market today, TNS found that as against 45,567 quintals of wheat lifted by private traders till date, only 512 quintals had been lifted by Punjab Agro Industries Corporation and Food Corporation of India. The other government agencies — Punjab State Warehousing Corporation, Markfed, Punsup and Pungrain have not intervened in the market as yet.

Last year, the private traders had lifted 3,36,134 quintals of wheat, while government agencies had lifted 7,03,032 quintals from this market.

“This year, with private traders offering anything between Rs 665 to Rs 672 per quintal (which is Rs 15-22 per quintal higher than the minimum support price of Rs 650), the role of the government agencies could be restricted,” said Mr Harbans Singh Rosha, president of the Arhtiya Association.

As of now, majority of wheat stocks have been lifted by the five local flour mills and a Ludhiana-based roller flour mill. Mr Varinder Kumar, a flour mill owner, who had come to purchase wheat stock here, said there was a shortage of wheat in the supply chain from December 2005 to February 2006, leading to a rise in the prices of wheat flour. “This year, the private parties are purchasing stocks in a big way. As against a demand of 5 lakh tonnes, the private flour mills are likely to purchase more stocks this year, which will increase the supply and bring down the flour price. Though private players are buying the maximum stock in Khanna, the government agencies in Rajpura, Nabha, and Samana are lifting up to 70 per cent of the stocks,” he added.

It is the farmers who are laughing all the way to the bank. Says Sarabjit Singh, a farmer from Barwali Kalan, “The farmers who were the first to arrive here sold their stocks at Rs 750 per quintal. I had brought 150 quintals today at a price of Rs 665 per quintal.”