The Hindu Business Line : Pawar: No plans for further wheat imports

Faced with a volley of criticism over its decision to import nearly eight lakh tonnes (lt) of wheat at $389.45 a tonne (nearly Rs 16 a kg), the Centre has seemingly changed tack.

Till recently, the official position — constantly reiterated by the Union Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar — was that the Centre would come what may import 50 lt of wheat in the current fiscal. With contracts for 13 lt finalised so far, it would mean floating of further tenders by State Trading Corporation of India (STC) for the balance 37 lt.

Pawar interview

But in an interview to a news agency here on Wednesday, Mr Pawar has said there were no immediate plans to issue more tenders and the country will not import wheat “in a hurry”. Further, the Chairman of Food Corporation of India (FCI), Mr Alok Sinha, has been quoted as saying that the country has sufficient stockpiles of wheat and the new season, beginning April, will open with 50 lt inventories — 10 lt more than normative the minimum buffer norm.

Concern

“These statements indicate that the Centre is concerned over the possible political fallout of importing at prices way above what is being paid to farmers here,” sources pointed out. In fact, Mr Pawar’s comments came on a day when the Delhi High Court sought the Centre’s response on a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the imports. According to the sources, the decision to import has also been questioned by voicing within the Government and the ruling alliance. “For the Finance Ministry, the main issue is that if imports are made at Rs 16, against the procurement price of Rs 8.50, it would be very difficult to resist pressure on increasing the minimum support price to Rs 10 plus. And with global prices going up even further since the last tender, further imports now would be both economically as well as politically unviable”, the sources added.