India has no plans to import Russian wheat via diplomatic means, Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra clarified on August 22.
“We are not looking at any government-to-government import deals, nor are we considering imposing any additional restrictions on rice, such as on the exports of non-basmati parboiled rice,” he added.
“We have every measure that we can take to keep inflation in check on cards here. However, the measures will only be taken when the need for them arises,” a source said.
As per another source, while the government was considering importing wheat from Russia, improved predictions of stocks of wheat have delayed this government decision.
As per the Food Corporation of India (FCI), government stocks of wheat are 280 lakh metric tonnes (MT) as of August 1, almost 5 lakh mt above stocking norm.
Per another source, government expects the central pool of wheat stocks to stand at 161 lakh mt as on April 1, which will be about 87 lakh mt higher than the required number as per stocking norms.
The government is also selling 50 lakh tonnes of wheat via Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) from this remaining stock of 87 lakh mt.
“Thus, despite OMSS, government assess that it will be left with stocks of 36 lakh mt of wheat. We are in a comfortable position with no proposition of government wheat imports,” the source added.
India in the past month has taken several supply-side measures to curb the rise of prices of various commodities.
It imposed a ban on the export of widely consumed non-basmati white rice, following a ban on broken rice exports last year.
Currently, there are no restrictions on the exports of parboiled rice, which constitutes nearly a third of India’s total rice exports.
Wheat stocks at government warehouses were at 28.3 million metric tons on Aug. 1, 20% below the 10-year average.
The statement comes amid high speculation on these fronts. Only last week, government sources had told news agency Reuters that India is in talks with Russia to import wheat at a discount to surging global prices in a rare move to boost supplies and curb food inflation ahead of state and national elections next year.
