In a letter addressed to the PM, Joshi said that the action was necessary to bring down the price of wheat. ``I thank you for allotting 50,000 tonnes of wheat per month for December, January and February to Maharashtra as part of the open market sale scheme. However, as I had mentioned in the Chief Ministers' Conference that the rate of wheat, which is fixed at Rs 689 per quintal, is on a higher side and needs to be reduced to the Central issue price. If this is not possible, it may be issued at Rs 600 per quintal, which would help in bringing down the prices. I also request you to increase the quota of wheat for Maharashtra from 50,000 tonnes to 75,000 tonnes, which will help us reduce prices of bread here,'' Joshi said in the letter.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena leader Kanhaiyyalal Gidwani has demanded that the State government should grant a subsidy of Rs 4.50 crore per month to the traders so they could purchase wheat at Rs 600 per quintal. ``If the State government gives a subsidy of Rs 89 per quintal to buy wheat, it can be sold at Rs 7 per kg in the open market. This will help bring down the price of wheat flour to Rs 700 per quintal, which in turn will result in reduction of prices of bread,'' Gidwani said.