Wheat Imports

In a move to check wheat price rise and hoarding, the Centre on Monday imposed stock holding limits on traders, wholesalers, retailers and processors with immediate effect. The restrictions will remain in force until March 31, 2025, across all states and Union Territories. Under the new rules, retail outlets and individual stores of big chain retailers are allowed to stock up to 10 tonnes of wheat, an official statement said. Traders, wholesalers, and large depots of big chain retailers face a cap of 3,000 tonnes each. For processors, the limit is set at 70 per cent of their monthly installed capacity (MIC) multiplied by the remaining months of the 2024-25 fiscal. The government has mandated all entities to declare their stock position and regularly update it on the Department of Food and Public Distribution's portal (https://evegoils.nic.in/wsp/login). Those holding stocks exceeding the prescribed limits have been given a 30-day window to comply with the new norms. The decision

The country's wheat stocks at state warehouses stood at 16.47 million metric tons as of Jan. 1, the lowest since 2017

The Congress on Tuesday attacked the Centre over its policy on wheat export and import, alleging that due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "showmanship", the poor people have suffered. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh shared a media report on X which claimed that India may allow import of Russian wheat to mitigate the rising domestic wheat prices ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. In a post in Hindi on X, Ramesh said, "Last year, to shore up his image, the Prime Minister had claimed that India is capable of feeding the world. He gave free rein to export of wheat." "Then wheat crisis occurred in our own country. By the end of 2022, wheat stocks reached a 15-year low. When the situation worsened, exports were banned. Now there is news that the government is considering importing wheat," the Congress leader said. Meanwhile, the prices of wheat products, including flour, in the country increased by 50 per cent, he claimed. Ramesh said there have also been reports of rice being giv

The Sovecon agriculture consultancy saw the price for the same class of wheat last week at $227-231 per ton FOB, down $2 from the week before

The imports would allow New Delhi to intervene more effectively in the market to drive down wheat prices that stoked inflation to a 15-month high in July

Top wheat shipper Russia moves most of its grain through the waterway. It is in the midst of a second bumper harvest, making this a crucial time for getting crops to markets and ensuring enough supply

India in June imposed a limit on the amount of wheat stocks traders can hold, for the first time in 15 years, to bring down prices

Farmers in Punjab squatted on railway tracks at many places in the state as part of their four-hour 'rail roko' agitation against the value cut announced by the Centre on shrivelled and broken wheat grains due to untimely rains. The protest impacted the movement of many trains and caused inconvenience to passengers. Several farmer bodies including Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) and BKU (Lakhowal) had announced that they would block rail tracks from 12 noon to 4 pm. Protesters squatted on rail tracks in many places including Ludhiana, Amritsar, Bathinda, Ferozepur, Sangrur, Fazilka, Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran. In some places, the protesting farmers even put up tents on the rail tracks. BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan on Tuesday said that farmers restored to the "rail roko" protest against the Centre for imposing the value cut on shrivelled and broken wheat grains for their procurement. He dubbed the government's decision "anti-farmer". In Ferozepur, a

The government on Friday said wheat production loss due to recent inclement weather is likely to be in the range of 1-2 million tonnes but overall production will reach a record 112.2 million tonne in the current year on higher acreage and yield. The government's wheat procurement at minimum support price (MSP) is underway and about 7 lakh tonnes have been purchased so far, higher than 2 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period. The Centre also asked roller flour millers to directly procure from farmers to meet their requirements instead of seeking stock from state-owned FCI under Open Market Sale Scheme. The government also ruled out the industry's demand to lift the ban on the export of wheat products considering the bumper output. Releasing a private wheat crop estimate at an event organised by the Roller Flour Millers' Federation of India, Subodh Kumar Singh, Additional Secretary in the Food Ministry said there was a difference in wheat production projected by the government and ...

With India likely to harvest a record wheat output, the Centre on Thursday said it is confident of achieving wheat procurement target of 34.2 million tonne and will soon take a call on relaxing quality norms for buying in Punjab and Haryana in view of crop damage due to untimely rains. Earlier in the day while announcing the bi-monthly monetary policy, Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das said the expectation of a record rabi harvest bodes well for easing of food price pressure. "There is already evidence of a correction in wheat prices in March on supply side interventions by the government. The impact of the recent unseasonal rains in some parts of the country, however, needs to be watched," the Governor said. Addressing a press conference, Union Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra said the government is hopeful of a record wheat output of 112.2 million tonne in 2022-23 crop year ending June, despite inclement weather conditions in some parts of the country affecting grain quality. Th

Last year, wheat production had declined to 106.84 million tonne due to heat wave in key growing states

Traders are confident that total acreage will be 10-15 per cent more than the previous years

Highest week-on-week numbers since 2017-18; hopes of strong harvest

Assures adequate stocks if PMGKAY extended beyond December

Will India become a net importer of wheat?

Wheat stocks with the FCI stand at a six-year low now, slightly above the minimum prescribed buffer. Will India turn into a net wheat importer now, just months after promising to feed the world?

According to FCI, the wheat stock in Central pool on April 1 next year is expected to be 11.3 million tonnes, higher than the buffer requirement of 7.5 million tonnes

Trade and market sources said wheat prices in wholesale markets of Delhi have risen by around Rs 40 per quintal since September 1

Wheat production is estimated to have declined due to a heatwave that resulted in shrivelled grains in the northern states of Punjab and Haryana

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Liquidating some stocks from the Central pool for private traders and a curb on excess holding could be considered