India, sitting on a huge stockpile of grains, will soon discuss lifting a ban on exports of wheat and common grades of rice, the farm minister said.

Department of Agriculture & Cooperation minister Sharad Pawar said a panel of ministers headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee would meet next week to discuss the issue as the country has the ability to export grains.

India, the world's second-biggest wheat producer, recently approved the sale of small quantities of wheat from government stocks to neighbouring Nepal.

Government officials last month said the country would sell an additional 200,000 tonnes of wheat to Nepal, despite a ban on overseas sales of the grain, and may supply limited quantities of rice to Bangladesh.

On February 1, stocks of wheat at warehouses were at 20.6 million tonnes, up 22.6% from a year earlier, while that of rice rose 26.7% to 25.6 million tonnes.