Hike in OMSS Reserve Prices for Wheat and Rice

In July 2025, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution increased the reserve prices for wheat and rice under the Open Market Sale Scheme-Domestic (OMSS-D) for FY 2025-26. The reserve price of wheat was hiked by 10.86 percent to Rs 2,550 per quintal. Concurrently, the price for custom-milled rice was increased by 3 percent to Rs 3,090 per quintal.

The Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) is operated by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to sell excess central pool food grains in the open market via e-auctions. This mechanism was developed to offload surplus buffer stocks and intervene in the market to cool down retail prices. Reserve prices are periodically revised by calculating the economic cost, which includes the MSP and FCI's procurement and distribution incidentals. The 2025 hikes were necessitated by prior increases in the MSP to support agrarian incomes.