India bans wheat exports, saying nation’s food security under threat

Only export shipments for which letters of credit have been issued on or before Friday’s notification will be allowed, the government said.

Besides, the government will allow exports on requests from other countries, the notification issued by Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said.

The notification said that the government had taken the decision “in order to manage the overall food security of the country and to support the needs of the neighbouring and other vulnerable countries”.

Global buyers had been banking on India – the world’s second largest wheat producer after China – for supplies after exports from the Black Sea region dropped since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February.

Also, the move is a u-turn two days after the government announced its plans for a big export push.
“The Centre will send trade delegations to Morocco, Tunisia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Turkey, Algeria and Lebanon for exploring possibilities of boosting wheat exports from India. India has set a target of a record 10 million tonnes of wheat in the 2022-23 amid rising global demand for the grain globally,” a government statement said Thursday.

“There is a rise in the demand for Indian wheat in the global market, farmers, traders and exporters have been advised to follow all the quality norms of importing countries so that India emerges as a reliable supplier of wheat globally.

Earlier this month, a Reuters report quoted a top official of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution as saying that India is not looking to curb wheat exports.

“There is no move to curb wheat exports, as the country has sufficient stocks of wheat,” Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey had then said.