India has banned wheat exports with immediate effect as part of measures to control rising domestic prices, officials said
India has banned wheat exports with immediate effect as part of measures to control rising domestic prices, officials said
Congress on May 14 attacked the government over the wheat export ban, saying it was an “anti-farmer” measure because it prevented farmers from benefiting from higher export prices. India has banned wheat exports with immediate effect as part of measures to control rising domestic prices, officials said.
Asked about the government’s move at a press conference on the second day of the ongoing “Chintan Shivir” Congress in Udaipur, senior leader and former finance minister P. Chidambaram said: “I assume this is because the central government is at the procurement has failed enough wheat. It’s not that wheat production has gone down, it’s more or less the same. In fact, it could be slightly more. Chidambaram said a minister from Chhattisgarh told him on Friday that the government there had procured 97,000 tons of rice.
Former Union Minister P. Chidambaram. File | Photo credit: Peppystores
“If procurement had taken place, there would have been no need to ban the export of wheat,” he said. “But let me add, the ban on wheat exports is an anti-farmer measure. It deprives the farmer of the opportunity to take advantage of higher export prices. It’s an anti-farmer measure and I’m not surprised, this government has never been very kind to the farmer,” Chidambaram said.
The Directorate-General for Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a May 13 statement: “The wheat export policy is banned with immediate effect. However, export shipments for which Irrevocable Letters of Credit (LoC) have been issued on or before the date of this notification will be admitted,” according to the DGFT.
