Government announces some relaxation in wheat export notification

The government has announced some relaxation to its order dated 13th May issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Department of Commerce, restricting wheat exports. It has been decided that wherever wheat consignments have been handed over to Customs for examination and have been registered into their systems on or prior to 13 May 2022, such consignments would be allowed to be exported.

The Government also allowed a wheat consignment headed for Egypt, already under loading at the Kandla port. This followed a request by the Egyptian government to permit the wheat cargo to be loaded at the Kandla port. Mera International India, the company, engaged to export the wheat to Egypt, had also given a representation for completion of loading of 61,500 MT of wheat, of which 44,340 MT of wheat had already been loaded and only 17,160 MT was left to be loaded. The government decided to permit the full consignment of 61,500 MT and allowed it to sail from Kandla to Egypt.

The Government of India had earlier restricted wheat exports to manage India's overall food security situation and support the needs of neighboring and vulnerable countries adversely affected by the sudden changes in the global market for wheat and are unable to access adequate wheat supplies. According to this order, this restriction would not apply in cases where prior commitments have been made by private trade through a Letter of Credit and in situations where the Government of India grants permission to other countries to meet their food security needs and on the requests of their governments.

The order served three main purposes: to ensure India's food security and check inflation, it helps other countries facing food deficits, and to maintain India's reliability as a supplier. The order also aimed to provide a clear direction to the wheat market to prevent the hoarding of wheat supplies.