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In the meeting of the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said that India will continue to allow wheat exports to countries which are very needy, friendly and have letters of credit.
India has clarified its position regarding this matter, not caring about the countries angry about the closure of wheat exports. Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal said at the World Economic Forum conference held in Davos, Switzerland, “India will continue to allow wheat exports to countries that need it the most, which are friendly and have a letter of credit.” In view of rising inflation and low production estimates due to wheat being expensive in the domestic market, the central government had banned its export on 13 May.
Goyal underlined that this year wheat production was expected to increase by 7 to 8 per cent, but due to heat wave, the crop was harvested early and its production decreased. He further said, “Given this situation, the amount we are producing is sufficient for domestic consumption.”
India is not a traditional exporter of wheat
Union Minister Goyal said that India was never a traditional supplier of wheat in the international market and started exporting wheat only about two years back. Last year 7 lakh metric tonnes of wheat was exported and most of it was done within the last two months, when the war between Russia-Ukraine broke out.
Goyal further said, India’s wheat exports are less than 1 per cent of its world trade and the ban on our exports should not affect the global markets. We have continued to allow exports to poor countries and neighbours.”
What will be the production this year
The central government had set a target of 110 million tonnes of wheat production in 2021-22. But according to the third advance estimates, the production will be 106.41 million tonnes. Russia and Ukraine are counted among the world’s major wheat producers, but due to the ongoing war between the two countries, the demand for wheat has increased significantly in many other countries this year. Because wheat is not being exported from Russia and Ukraine in them. Not only this, its production has also decreased in many countries. That is why there is a fire in the rate of wheat internationally.
Government procurement decreased, target changed
The effect of international increase in the rate of wheat is also being seen in India. Here too, the farmers are getting the price of wheat more than the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 2015 per quintal. That is why instead of selling wheat in the government market, farmers are preferring to sell it to traders. That is why the target of procurement has not been met so far this year.
The central government had said in early April that this time 444 lakh metric tonnes of wheat would be purchased at MSP. But in the changed circumstances, it has to reduce this target to 195 lakh metric tonnes.
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