No bar on pvt firms buying wheat

The government is not planning to put any kind of restriction on the entry of private companies in procurement of wheat.

"We are not thinking of banning anybody from participating in procurement, as it will hurt the interests of farmers. However, any call on its regulation will be taken at an appropriate stage after seeing the crop size", said a senior Food Ministry official.

Further, the government is convinced of beginning the procurement of wheat with a comfortable buffer stock. "The wheat stocks in central pool should be above the buffer norm of 4 million tonne in April, when we start procurement", he said.

Last year, private companies like Cargill India, Adani and ITC along with others had managed to procure 1.2-1.5 million tonne wheat, offering Rs 30-50 over the government's Minimum Support Price of Rs 650 a quintal.

This contributed to the low procurement of wheat (9.2 million tonne as against 14.8 in previous year) by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and the government was forced to import 5.5 million tonne at higher rates to meet domestic public distribution system (PDS) requirements.

The official also pointed that of the 5.5 million tonne wheat import contracted, about 4.51 million tonne have arrived. Another 2.46 lakh tonne are on the seas while some 2.5 lakh tonne are at the ports of dispatch. "We are expecting the wheat imports to conclude by second-third week of February", the official said.

"The FCI would need about 15 million tonne wheat for its PDS purposes. If it fails to procure such a quantity, we will have to source wheat from somewhere else. But a lot will depend on the weather in February, which will determine production", he said.

On wheat exports, the official said it does not seem possible even if the production is around 72-74 million tonne as it will just be adequate for the domestic consumption, including seed requirement.