Govt likely to lift four-year ban on wheat exports

India, the world’s second-biggest wheat producer, may today end a four-year ban on exports as the nation is set to harvest a record crop for a fourth year, two government officials said.

A panel of ministers, led by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, is scheduled to discuss a proposal to allow sales of as much as 2 million tonnes of wheat at a meeting in New Delhi, said the officials with direct knowledge of the matter and declining to be identified before a decision is taken. A group of government officials earlier today cleared the proposal for discussion by the ministers, they said.

The ministers’ panel will decide on ending the ban imposed in early 2007, Food Minister K V Thomas said on April 26. N C Joshi, a spokesman for the food ministry, declined to comment.

Wheat production in India may climb to 84.3 million tonnes in the year ending June from 80.8 million tonnes a year earlier after the government increased guaranteed prices paid to farmers to boost output, Farm Minister Sharad Pawar said April 6.

The ministers may also discuss allowing sales of subsidised cooking oil through state-run shops until September 30, the officials said.

On the other hand, India has allowed exports of 250,000 tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan in the current fiscal that began on April 1, a government statement said on Monday.