This time India eased the ban on wheat exports

International Desk: India has eased its wheat export ban due to severe instability in the international market. However, consignments of wheat that have been handed over to the Indian Customs Department for examination and registered on or before May 13, before the ban is imposed, can be sent abroad.

India's commerce ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that it had been allowed to send a shipment of wheat to the country at the request of the Egyptian government. This shipment of wheat is already being loaded at Kandala port.

NDTV reports that thousands of wheat trucks have been stranded outside some Indian ports due to the sudden ban on wheat exports. This step has been taken to relax the restrictions as these trucks are stuck.

A statement from India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said the government had taken the decision to ensure the country's overall food security and meet the needs of neighboring and other high-risk countries.

The statement further said that New Delhi would still allow wheat exports to countries which have already issued export bonds to traders and which have requested export for food security. In other words, the ban on wheat export will not be applicable in these cases.

Besides, wheat exports will also be allowed at the request of the governments of other countries, the statement said. Wheat exports have been banned for three main purposes.

These three goals are to ensure India's food security and control inflation, to assist other countries facing food shortages and to maintain India's credibility as a supplier. The statement also said that the order was aimed at giving a clear direction to the market to stop the supply of wheat.

The price of this food grain has reached a record high in the world market as India banned the export of wheat on May 13. The seven-nation bloc has sharply criticized India's "protectionist" decision to ban exports amid rising global inflation in the wake of the Ukraine war.

India, the world's second-largest wheat producer, says traders will only be able to enter into new export deals with government approval. That is why the export of wheat has been banned.

Wheat prices have risen in some parts of India and have risen by 20 to 40 per cent in some areas in recent weeks, Commerce Secretary BVR Subramaniam said on Sunday. Some farmers in the country have stopped selling wheat to the government due to massive price hikes around the world. They are selling this food grain to the traders.

As a result, the country's government is concerned about plans to stockpile 20 million tonnes of wheat to avoid any possible famine and to help millions of families left destitute by the epidemic.

BVR Subramaniam said, "We do not want wheat to be exported or stored in an uncontrolled manner." Instead, wheat can be exported with the permission of the government in countries where there is a need for food for the people at risk.

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