India may sell 4 million tonnes of subsidised wheat in the open market from October to reduce prices in the coming festival season and control inflation, the Business Standard reported on Monday, without citing any sources. The wheat would be sold to both retail consumers and bulk buyers, the newspaper said, adding the proposal would soon be taken up by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
Indian inflation accelerated faster than expected in early August to a new 13-year high of 12.44 percent. Wheat has a weight of 1.38 percent in the index. The government agencies have bought 22.5 million tonnes of wheat in the winter-sown crop, nearly double of last year's purchase, which may lead to shortages and drive up prices toward the end of 2008 in the open market, the newspaper said.