India exported wheat worth $473 mn in April, $177 mn in March ahead of ban

The Centre stated on May 26 that India exported wheat worth US$ 177 million in March and US$ 473 million in April this year, just weeks after the central government banned wheat exports to limit price rises.

While India's expected wheat production for 2022-23 is near 105 million metric tonnes (MMT), it must meet domestic consumption requirements for its 130 million people. It requires 30 MMT required for food security schemes such as the National Food Security Act (NFSA), Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), and other welfare schemes for nearly 80 million poor and vulnerable people. It also requires some wheat to provide humanitarian aid to neighbouring countries and other vulnerable nations.

In FY 2021-22, the government disbursed 42.7 MMT of wheat through the NFSA and PMGKAY programmes.

Wheat procurement was 180 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) in Rabi Market Season (RMS) 2022-23, compared to 400 LMT last year in RMS 2021-22. This is because, in most instances, the farmer earned a greater price in the open market than MSP, as evidenced by market survey data and field offices. This can also be seen in the fact that procurement on May 16 and 17, 2022 was only 31,349 MT and 27,876 MT, respectively, compared to 380,200 MT and 146,782 MT on the same days last year.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.