India's wheat export ban to be clarified soon

India's finance minister has announced that the issue of the wheat export ban was being discussed with the Commerce Ministry, and would be sorted out soon.

"We are consulting with the Commerce Ministry and we will be able to sort it out," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters on Wednesday (Jul 27).

Earlier this month, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar had said the government had decided to lift the ban on wheat exports.

Later, Food and Commerce Ministers clarified that the decision would be taken at the next meeting of the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) on food.

Sources had earlier said that while the proposal was given 'in-principle' approval during the July 11 meeting of EGoM, chaired by the Finance Minister, the decision was deferred in the wake of depressed prices in the global market.

India banned wheat exports in early 2007 to boost domestic supplies, although the ban was relaxed twice this year to allow preferential exports to Afghanistan and the Maldives.

The Commerce Ministry recently issued a notification on allowing export of one million tonnes of non-basmati rice though it has not issued any such order on wheat exports.

India has 37.8 million tonnes of wheat stores after a bumper crop.

According to the latest estimates from the Agriculture Ministry, India's total wheat output is pegged at 85.93 million tonnes during the 2010-11 crop year of July-June, compared to 80.80 million tonnes in the previous year.