New Delhi, March 13 The Government may not lift the ban on export of non-basmati rice, wheat, pulses and edible oil at least till the food inflation cools down, Commerce Ministry sources told Business Line.
“There is no likelihood of allowing export of non-basmati rice, wheat, oil and pulses at this time as we have taken into consideration the food inflation at the moment. Once it (inflation) is under control, then we will see,” a senior official said.
No shortage
The official said though the rabi crop looked good, its impact had not been fully felt in the market so far, adding that currently there was no proposal from the Commerce Ministry for doing away with the ban on exports of any of these essential food items.
However, the Government was not worried about any shortage of rice and wheat as the procurement was better than last year, the official said, adding the buffer stocks were more than sufficient.
There is no ban on basmati rice exports at present and also edible oil export is only allowed for five-litre packs up to 10,000 tonnes for consumer use.
Bulk edible oil exports were allowed only from Kerala, the official said, adding that there were no reports of any diversion of oil to Kerala from other parts of the country for export purposes.
Wheat export
There is lobbying for wheat export with the reasoning that it would help make room for storing the new crop that is being harvested.
Rabi wheat production is likely to be a record, at around 82 million tonnes, from 80.2 mt a year ago.
The Agriculture, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, had said recently that the Government might look at removing the ban on wheat exports.
But official sources said they would wait for some more time till the inflation was reined in and were able to meet the rising demand for all the essential food items.
Source : Business Line