Wheat flour supply dips, prices increase

Retail prices of wheat flour (atta) have jumped 17% in the past year due to a shortage of the staple in open markets, millers said, urging the government to release grains from its own reserves. Lower supplies have led wheat flour price — at an all-india daily average retail price of ₹36.98 a kg — to almost equal that of rice, which stands at ₹37.96 per kg, according to official data. “The rates have increased because this year, the government has not offloaded any wheat through open market sale,” said Rakesh Anand of the Roller Flour Mills Association.