According to news agency Reuters, the leader of a significant industrial group in India has urged officials to rapidly remove the 40% wheat import tax to make it easier to buy grain from outside.
The second-largest producer of the staple in the world views this action as essential to bringing down local wheat costs. To lower the skyrocketing price of wheat, India has been enacting policies like limiting dealers' holdings and providing state reserve grain to large consumers.
According to the research, wholesale wheat prices have increased by almost 11% over the last four months, peaking in August at a level not seen in seven months.
Importing wheat is one of the greatest methods to guarantee that plentiful supply results in cheaper costs, but a 40% duty renders any import unprofitable, according to Pramod Kumar S, head of the Roller Flour Millers' Federation, in an interview with Reuters.
"To ensure that private trade can import wheat, the government should immediately abolish the wheat import duty."
In order to allow private trade to import wheat, Kumar underlined the importance of the government eliminating the import duty. After the duty is lifted, 2 to 3 million metric tons of wheat could be imported by millers and independent dealers, he pointed out.
Due to the high cost of transportation from areas where wheat is grown largely, flour millers are experiencing shortages, especially in southern states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
The removal of the import tax, he continued, might result in the prompt importation of Black Sea wheat, easing supply problems until the coming crop. In addition to pricing, insurance, and freight, Kumar projected that Black Sea wheat might be purchased for $280–$290 per ton, which would be around $40 less expensive than supply from other significant producers.
A decreased crop size has resulted in a decrease in the supply of wheat. Kumar earlier informed the news organization that the government's anticipated record wheat crop of 112.74 million metric tons for 2023 was at least 10% lower.
