Explained | Why is India looking to boost wheat exports?

Does India have surplus wheat production? Which are the countries considering to import the foodgrain?

The story so far:Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent western sanctions on Russia have affected wheat exports from the Black Sea region and impacted food security in several countries, especially in Africa and West Asia. The disruption to global wheat supplies in turn has thrown open opportunities that India’s grain exporters are eyeing, especially given the domestic surplus availability of the cereal. Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said on Friday that Egypt, one of the largest importers of wheat, had agreed to source the cereal from India.

Globally, Russia is the market leader for wheat exports (almost 15% share) and Ukraine is also a major producer. Exports from these two countries have been hit by the war and sanctions.

India expects to produce 112 million tonnes of wheat in the current season. The government requires 24-26 million tonnes a year for its food security programmes. With surplus wheat production, opportunities have opened up for exports. Wheat exports in the 2021-2022 financial year were estimated at 7.85 million tonnes, a quadrupling from 2.1 million tonnes in the previous year.

More countries are turning to India because of the competitive price, acceptable quality, availability of surplus wheat and geopolitical reasons. While the existing importers are buying more, new markets have emerged for Indian wheat. Exports this fiscal are expected to be almost 10 million tonnes worth $3 billion.

The different grades of wheat produced in India are of the milling quality. So, apart from Egypt and Jordan, countries in East Africa are also likely to source the foodgrain from India. India has sent out dossiers to over 20 countries and talks are on at different levels with all these countries. The aim is to reach early resolution on the Pest Risk Analysis by each of these countries so that exports can take off.

The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and Ministry of Agriculture are also sending delegations to several countries to resolve market issues, if any.

The Commerce Ministry has put in place an internal mechanism to facilitate it and get the paperwork ready for the related sanitary and phytosanitary applications to help facilitate shipments.