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Govt bans wheat export with immediate effect to manage overall food security

Staff Reporter

Commerce Secretary B V R Subrahmanyan has said that there is no crisis of wheat and adequate food stock is available in the country. He said, unregulated trade is the reason behind the rising prices of wheat and the primary goal of the government is to check the inflation.

Agriculture Secretary Manoj Ahuja said that the country is in a safe position in terms of quantity and availability of wheat.

Government has prohibited wheat export with immediate effect. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade issued a notification in this regard yesterday.

It has been stated in the notification that an amendment in the export policy of wheat has been done in order to manage the overall food security of the country and to support the needs of the neighbouring countries and other vulnerable countries.

It has been further stated that export will also be allowed on the basis of permission granted by the Government to other countries to meet their food security needs and based on the request of their government.

Directorate General of Foreign Trade said, there is a sudden spike in the global prices of wheat due to several factors and as a result, food security of India, neighbouring countries and other vulnerable countries is at risk. It said, the government is committed to provide food security.

Meanwhile, Centre said in view of the price rise of wheat, the decision has been taken to regulate its export and has assured that Public Distribution System, PDS will continue to distribute wheat without any hitch.

Addressing media in New Delhi this afternoon, Secretary Food and Consumer Affairs Sudhanshu Pandey said that PDS system is the backbone of country’s food safety and security network. He said PDS covers almost 81.35 crore people and despite the rise in price of wheat in the international market, it will run smoothly in the country.

He said, all other countries except India, are selling wheat at around 450 to 480 dollar per tonne in the market.

He said, this year in India, the opening stock for wheat was 190 Lakh Tonnes which is less than last year’s opening balance of 273 Lakh tonnes. Mr Pandey informed that last year the procurement of wheat was 433 Lakh tonnes where as this year it was estimated to be 444 Lakh tonnes but so far the actual procurement is about 180 Lakh tonnes.

Mr Pandey said the Central government in consultation with the States and concerned authorities, has taken a decision to reallocate some quantities by changing ratio of wheat and rice. He said, the government has also boosted the availability of wheat by allocating additional 111 Lakh tonnes.

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