Govt does a volte-face on wheat exports

Alluding to unfavorable global market conditions, the Union government has put off the decision to allow wheat exports.

Surprisingly, the move comes just after the Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar's announcement that the four-year ban on wheat exports had been revoked.

Government sources, however, disclosed that exports of rice and wheat products (maida and atta) would resume soon and the Commerce Ministry was working on last minute modalities for clearing the way.

The government's decision on wheat exports comes in the backdrop of Russian Black Sea wheat flooding the global markets, Ministry officials said, who pointed out that Russia was selling its wheat for $244 a tonne against the Indian variety priced at $300 a tonne.

According to another official, even if the government permits wheat exports, shipments would be delayed, while wheat stocks from Russia had already reached the international markets.

Pointing out that setting a minimum export price at this point would be of no help to traders, the official said that the decision on wheat exports had, therefore, been deferred for now.

It may be recalled that the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on food, headed by the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, had only last week given in-principal approval to lift the ban on wheat exports. The EGoM had also decided to allow exports of one million tonnes of common rice, in addition to keeping the overall limit on wheat product exports at 6.5 lakh tonnes.