Govt says it will allow duty free wheat imports

Govt will allow the STC to import 500,000 tonnes of wheat at zero duty to offset a rise in domestic prices.

Government will allow the State Trading Corporation (STC) to import 500,000 tonnes of wheat at zero duty to offset a rise in domestic prices, Farm Minister Sharad Pawar said on Thursday.

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"Wheat will be imported by the STC only in the southern states. There will be no other imports of wheat except at four southern ports," Pawar told a news conference.

Currently, India levies a 70 per cent duty on wheat imports, making it unviable to import the grain.

Pawar said the corporation would decide on the exact time for importing the cargoes but added the imported grain would be arriving within two months.

He added that the country's new-crop wheat output would be around 74-75 million tonnes. Last year, India produced about 72 million tonnes of the grain.