India to reinstate wheat import duty after big deals

By Mayank Bhardwaj

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India has decided to introduce an import duty of 10 percent on wheat after a gap of eight years, government sources said on Monday, after senior civil servants met to discuss ways to curb overseas purchases when domestic stocks are ample.

Last month some private firms signed deals to import 500,000 tonnes of high-protein Australian wheat in the biggest such purchases in more than a decade that led to criticism Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government was letting down farmers.

(Editing by William Hardy)