India’s wheat export ban begins hurting neighbour Nepal
By Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, February 14: India imposed a ban on export of wheat in May last year in anticipation of the shortage within the country. But the move has begun showing distress in Nepal, with flour mills closing down. Wheat prices in India also have gone soaring, forcing the government to release additional quantum in the open market to cool the food inflation.
Indi, while announcing the ban in export of wheat, had stated that the government will continue exporting to friendly nations and also to meet emergency requirements anywhere. India had set a quota of 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat export for Nepal. But the Himalayan nation has already committed to import 33,000 MT of wheat from India in the next two weeks. But the flour mills owners in Nepal are warning that the country is staring at an acute wheat shortage, while pressing on the Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ government to persuade India to enhance the quota for the country.
The Indian foreign secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra just wrapped up his visit to Nepal. He will be arriving in Bangladesh. Kwatra was carrying Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s inivitation for Dahal to visit India next month.
Incidentally, the public wheat stock in India is also depleting fast, while the new crop will arrive in the market only in the summer. The wheat prices in India also went up sharply, which forced the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to auction stocks in the open market at discount against the prevailing market prices. Russia and Ukraine have been the major exporters of wheat, but the supply lines remain disrupted on account of over one year of war between the two nations. Pakistan too is reeling under acute food shortage, and Islamabad recently managed to import wheat from Russia.
The flour mills are quoting steep prices in Nepal. The traders in Nepal are reportedly selling flour at over 50 per cent additional costs amid reports of wheat shortage. Dahal during his visit to New Delhi is likely to impress upon India to hike the wheat quota for Nepal. Officials said that India may not be in a position to lift the ban on the export of wheat unless the public stock is replenished fully in the next harvest season. The climate change impact, which has been seen in various parts of India, is being attributed to have impacted the wheat crop areas, with officials still assessing the extent of the dip in the production.
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