Feed the World, Mr PM? Report Says India May Import Wheat; Govt Denies

Delhi: With rallying wheat prices indicating food insecurity to hit the country, reports suggest that the Centre may be considering importing wheat despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claiming India will “feed the world” amid the crisis stoked by the Russia-Ukraine war.

Rising prices of wheat and a shortage in the domestic supply of the grain after production was hit by heat waves have led to authorities preparing to facilitate overseas purchases and the talks are currently private, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter. According to the report, government officials are mulling whether to cut or abolish the 40% import tax on wheat. The move could aid flour millers in some regions to import grain, the report said.

Amid such reports in the media, Department of Food & Public Distribution on Sunday tweeted saying: "There is no such plan to import wheat into India. Country has sufficient stocks to meet our domestic requirements and Food Corporation of India has enough stock for public distribution." 

There is no such plan to import wheat into India. Country has sufficient stocks to meet our domestic requirements and @FCI_India has enough stock for pubic distribution.

— Department of Food & Public Distribution (@fooddeptgoi) August 21, 2022

As the Russia-Ukraine war hit the global wheat supply, Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed that India would come to the world’s aid. Nonetheless, in as early as April, alarms were rang about an imminent crisis. However, the government maintained its position that India had “sufficient stocks” and would have a bumper harvest. In early April, Sudhanshu Pandey, the most senior civil servant at the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, told Reuters, "The Indian market has sufficient stocks, and India is in a comfortable position to meet requests from wheat importing countries.”

Then, in early May, Modi said at a gathering of the Indian diaspora in Germany that  “At a time when the world is facing a shortage of wheat, the farmers of India have stepped forward to feed the world,”

Soon after, with the realisation that a bumper harvest was not going to take place, India banned wheat exports on May 13 to control rising domestic prices and ensure food security. After much global criticism, it introduced some relaxation in its original order.

In May, India also revised its estimation of wheat harvest to 106.41 million tonnes for the year 2021-22, which is lower by 4.4% from its previous estimates. Earlier, the Centre had forecast wheat production of 111.32 million tonnes this year.

The Bloomberg report said that according to the Food Corporation of India, the state reserves of wheat have declined in August to the lowest level for the month in 14 years. Meanwhile, consumer wheat inflation is running at close to 12%.