Five countries, including Bangladesh, have requested India to export wheat. An Indian government official has given the information, according to a report in the Indian media Live Mint. India banned wheat exports on 13 May due to rising prices in the world market. However, India kept open the option of supplying wheat at the government level (G2G) with neighbouring countries and those which are in acute crisis.
The Mint report quoted the Indian official saying ‘India has received requests from Indonesia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh and Yemen following the imposition of export sanctions. The wheat requirements of these countries and the quantity of wheat in India are being assessed.’
According to the report, trade experts believe that Bangladesh could import more wheat from India.
According to Indian government sources, wheat worth 10 crore dollars was imported from Russia in 2020. At that time, Bangladesh imported wheat from Ukraine worth 61 crores and 7 lac dollars.
According to India’s Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS), India exported wheat worth about 100 crore dollars to Bangladesh in 2021-22.
According to the report, one of the reasons for the demand of these countries is that the price of wheat in India is lower than in other countries. According to the Indian Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Indian wheat is being sold at about 40% lower than the international price.
According to Live Mint, Indonesia imported more than 54 crore dollars’ worth of wheat from Ukraine in 2020. In 2021-22, India exported wheat worth about 10.5 crore dollars to Southeast Asia.
According to a Reuters report, India exported a record 14 lac tonnes of wheat last April and an agreement was signed for an additional 15 lac tonnes in May.
