Mukherjee acts on hurdles to Bangladesh grain export

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has asked his officials to expedite shipment of rice and wheat to Bangladesh. He met the Union food secretary, commerce secretary and foreign secretary today to discuss this.

During his visit to Bangaldesh in August, the minister had committed to providing the foodgrains to the country during Ramzan. It is learnt that Bangladeshi finance minister Ama Muhith told Mukherjee during the recent Fund-Bank meeting in Washington that the shipments had not come. Mukherjee assured Muhith he would look into the matter.

The shipment was delayed because of some logistic issues. Mukherjee wants his commitment to be honoured, said a finance ministry official.

India had agreed to export 300,000 tonnes of rice and 200,000 tonnes of wheat to Bangladesh, despite a formal ban on export of these essential commodities to ensure their availability in the domestic market. The government had banned wheat exports in October 2007 and of non-basmati rice from April 2008. The ban, however, is often relaxed due to diplomatic reasons.

In 2008, too, India had restarted export of rice to Bangladesh following a promise made by Mukherjee during his visit to the cyclone-hit areas of the country.

India is the world’s second largest wheat producer and contributes to around 12 per cent of the global production. The Department of Economic Affairs in the finance ministry has favoured lifting curbs on wheat exports, in its latest monthly economic review. “If India could look at easing wheat export curbs currently in place, subject to the 2010-11 wheat production prospects, it may be in a position to benefit from the global wheat situation with competitive prices,” it said.

The government had a stock of 50.34 million tonnes at the end of August. Of this, the share of Food Corporation of India was 26.24 mt, while the share of state agencies was 24 mt.