Prospect of wheat exports could be weighed: comm secy

A day after Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar ruled out lifting ban on wheat exports, the Commerce Ministry today said the possibility of allowing exports could be weighed as the global prices are higher than locally.

"As of now, yes, domestic prices are lower than the international prices; so the prospect of commercial exports exists," Commerce secretary Rahul Khullar told reporters here today when asked if India would allow exports of the grain as the global prices are ruling high.

Last evening, Pawar said there is no proposal to lift the ban on wheat exports even though the country has adequate stocks in government godowns and there is a shortage of space for storage, as it has to keep domestic prices in check.

The global price of wheat has gone up significantly after Russia, which supplies almost 11 per cent of the world export, effected a ban on exports in the face of worst ever drought in 100 years and Ukraine said it was mulling quotas.

India, which produced a record of 80.71 million tonnes of wheat in the 2009-10 crop year ending June, surpassing 80.68 million tonnes output last year, had banned exports in early 2007 and made imports free of any duties to augment domestic availability.

The country had imported about seven million tonnes of wheat in 2006 and 2007 to meet its buffer stock requirement.

As on July 1, government agencies have 33.5 million tonnes of wheat stock.