Reacting to the surge in wheat prices, the government today reduced the Customs duty on the commodity from 50 per cent to 5 per cent and placed it under the open general licence till the end of the year. | |
| "It has been decided to allow import of wheat at a concessional rate of 5 per cent against a 50 per cent scheduled rate, with effect from today," an official statement said today. |
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| The standards of quality applied to the imports will be the ones notified for public sector imports. |
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| Atul Chaturvedi, president of Adani Exports' agro division welcomed the move, saying that it, along with wheat imports by the government, would lead to a fall in prices. |
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| However, Veena Sharma, joint secretary of Roller Flour Millers' Federation of India, said the government had proposed to reduce the duty on wheat to zero. |
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| Sharma pointed out that wheat, as a commodity, was more essential than sugar, on which the government had reduced the duty to zero. She conceded, however, that the move would ensure greater availability of wheat in the country. |
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| Last week, the government had allowed import of pulses at zero duty till March 31 next year. |
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| Sugar imports would not draw any duty but attract countervailing duty of Rs 850 per tonne till September 30 this year, before the new crushing season begins. |
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| "Wheat, pulses and sugar are driving prices up, therefore, the decision has been taken to augment the supply side (through imports)," Finance Minister P Chidambaram had said, announcing a recent decision of the Cabinet's committee on prices. |
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| The government has also suspended export of pulses till Diwali, which will fall in October. |
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