Govt rolls out subsidised 'Bharat Atta' ahead of Diwali

New Delhi: In a bid to provide a respite to people from food inflation, the Union government has decided to provide wheat flour (atta) at subsidised prices of Rs 27.50 per kg against the market price, which ranges between Rs 40 and 45 per kg.

In line with this decision, Union minister Piyush Goyal on Monday flagged off 130 mobile vans for the sale of atta under the ‘Bharat Atta' brand in the Delhi-NCR region.

While launching the product, Piyush Goyal said, "The government of India has taken several steps for the welfare of both farmers and consumers. We have procured food commodities every time we saw the people of the country struggle due to rising prices and have sold them at subsidised prices to benefit the consumers,"

As per the government, the Bharat Atta will be available in packets of 10 kg and 30 kg respectively and will also be sold at the outlets of Mother Dairy, NAFED and NCCF, among other cooperatives.

The Union government also significantly increased the total amount of wheat to be offered for sale in the open market to ensure

moderate prices at the retail level. Notably, the export of wheat has already been banned to ensure sufficient domestic availability.

Earlier, the government, in a similar exercise, also launched the Bharat Dal (pulses) scheme under which chickpeas (chana dal) were sold at Rs 60 for 1kg packet and Rs 55 per kg for a 30 kg packet respectively.

The government is also selling onions at Rs 25 per kg at around 150 places in the Delhi-NCR region.