India’s Ministry of Finance has approved the sale of 2 million tonnes of rice buffer stocks under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) to bulk buyers, including millers and traders, through e-auctions starting in April 2015. This measure was announced in mid-February. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) is estimated to have rice stocks of about 15.5 million with an additional 8.8 million tonnes to be received from millers. The current stock level held by the FCI is significantly higher than the target level of 13.5 million. The minimum and maximum e-auction quantity per purchaser is set at 50 and 3500 tonnes respectively, with an expected price of R 2 300 per quintal for the grade-A quality, which is higher than the Minimum Support Price (MSP). This initiative marks the first time that excess rice stocks will be sold through the OMSS, although 4.1 million tonnes of wheat were disposed through the OMSS in the 2009/10 marketing year April/March).