The Union government has exported nearly 30 lakh tonnes of wheat in 2022 so far and is mulling requests from some countries for the supply of the grain, the government said on 22 June.

 

Responding on the issue of plans to ban wheat flour (atta) export, Food Secretary Sudhansu Pandey said the government is monitoring the situation and would take steps at appropriate time.

 

Earlier on 13 May, the government suspended wheat export to ensure domestic availability and check price rise. However, the government had said it would allow wheat export to other nations on a case to case basis.

 

'Requests have come from several countries, they are under consideration,' Joint Secretary in the Food Ministry Partha S Das told reporters. Though he did not divulge the names of countries that have made requests for Indian wheat.

 

Das, meanwhile, agreed that some quantities have been approved for a few countries, including Bangladesh, where 1.5 lakh tonnes of wheat has been exported.

 

Adding more, he said, India has exported a total of 29.70 lakh tonnes of wheat till June 14 of the current fiscal, while wheat flour exports were at 2.59 lakh tonnes in the same period.

 

On ration card portability under the One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) scheme, the Secretary said it has been implemented across India now with Assam being the last state to implement the scheme.

Centre for Global Affairs and Public Policy hosted a round table conference on 'G-20, the Indo-Pacific and the Regional Economic Order: Collaborative Synergies between India and Indonesia' at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi on June 20. The event featured 2 sessions addressed by a panel of policy experts from India and Indonesia

 

Speaking at a session titled Exploring Synergies in the G-20, Dr. Tauhid Ahmad, Executive Director – INDEF, Jakarta, pointed out that data protection in Indonesia is a major issue and the government needs to come up with a cohesive policy to tackle the same. He also said that Indonesia stands for a comprehensive partnership with India.

 

Speaking at the roundtable Pranav Kumar, Chief – International Trade Policy Division, CII, said, 'G20 is important for India as it is the oldest engagement group. G-20 is also important because it is a multilateral forum core agenda of trade management. With India’s merchandise export upto billions, India has good agenda to move forward with WTO. The Geneva Package of agreements has also given WTO a good agenda going forward.' He also highlighted India’s role in tackling the climate crisis and called for more cohesive steps towards Climate and Debt Financing. He also spoke on global technological divide which needs to be taken care of with focus on building digital literacy and its access to the people worldwide.

 

The Roundtable reflected on the far-reaching changes that have taken place in the regional architecture in terms of emergence of new constructs like the IPEF; its engagement with the priorities of the G20; and the crucial role that India and Indonesia can play in contributing to the IPEF and G20 agendas.

 

Dr. Amitendu Palit pointed out that the G20 presidency is going to be held by a line of emerging economies, including India, in the coming years. This gives emerging economies a unique opportunity to shape the global agenda, he noted.

 

In the Second Session tilted: Indo-Pacific Economic Framework: A New Promise? Dr. Amitendu Palit, from ISAS, NUS Singapore, Dr. Tauhid Ahmad, Executive Director, INDEF, Jakarta & Yashodhara Dasgupta from the US-India Business Council, New Delhi, participated in a panel discussion on different aspects of Indo-pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).

 

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Tauhid Ahmad stressed that members of the IPEF have a more clear vision regarding the agenda of the framework concerned with economic and geo-strategic regional security.

 

According to Yashodhara Dasgupta, US-India Business Council, India, 'IPEF Puts India at Centre table. US and India are at Prime stage and there is immense room for digitalized growth.'

 

According to Dr.Amitendu Palit 'While US will play a pivotal role in IPEF, one needs to keep in mind China’s influence on the region. We have to have a robust policy that will take into consideration the economy and security of the region.' He emphasised the challenges faced in global supply chain and how IPEF needs to work in strengthening the methods of sustainable farming. 'IPEF to strengthen the Indo Pacific region & Cross border stability' he added.

 

Highlighting the importance of stakeholder collaboration, panelists agreed that IPEF is a vision of the future and will enhance regional as well as global trade, open partnership and scaling on larger platforms. They further pointed out that IPEF is an indication of more the growing number of flexible arrangements for global engagement that countries are pursuing, such as FTAs focussing on specific goods and services and loose regional groupings with open membership rules.

 

Present in the event were: Dr Tauhid Ahmad, Executive Director, INDEF, Jakarta, Anindya Sengupta, Director, CGAPP, Dr Amitendu Palit, ISAS, NUS, Singapore, Yashodhara Dasgupta, US-India Business Council & Professor Milindo Chakraborty New Delhi. Earlier Ritwik Sarkar delivered the opening address and Anindya Sengupta delivered the concluding address informing participants of CGAPP's activities and research areas.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday appealed to exporters and the industry to fix long-term export targets for themselves and suggest ways to the government to achieve those figures. Inaugurating the new Vanijya Bhawan New Delhi, he said the government has removed over 32,000 unnecessary compliances.

 

He said that the new Bhawan will significantly benefit people associated with trade, commerce and the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector.

 

The Prime Minister also launched the NIRYAT (National Import-Export Record for Yearly Analysis of Trade) portal - which is developed as a one-stop platform for stakeholders to get all necessary information related to India's foreign trade.

 

He added that exports play a critical role in transforming a developing country into a developed nation, besides creating job opportunities.

 

'Last year, despite global disruptions, India's exports touched USD 670 billion... To achieve new targets, collective effort is necessary. Industry, exporters and export promotion councils are here. I will urge them to fix not only short-term but also long-term export targets for themselves,' he said.

 

The government is working to promote ease of doing business and boost exports, Modi said adding new domestic products like handlooms are reaching new markets.

 

The ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce), an initiative aiming at promoting open networks for all aspects of exchange of goods and services over digital or electronic networks, is gaining increasing traction from the industry. A total of seven companies- one buyer side app, five seller side apps and one logistics service provider app – have adopted ONDC protocols and built their own ONDC compatible apps. These apps have been able to successfully complete cascaded transactions across the ONDC network during the pilot phase in five designated cities- Bengaluru, New Delhi, Bhopal, Shillong and Coimbatore - in grocery and food and beverages segments. The information was provided during the meeting of the ONDC Advisory Council chaired by Hon’ble Minister of Commerce & Industry Shri Piyush Goyal to review the progress made in the project in New Delhi today.

 

The meeting was attended by Shri Nandan Nilekani, Shri Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman QCI, Shri Anurag Jain, Secretary, DPIIT, Shri R S Sharma, CEO, NHA, Shri Suresh Sethi, CEO NSDL e-Gov, Shri Dilip Asbe, CEO, NPCI, Shri Praveen Khandelwal, SG CAIT, Shri K Rajgopalan, CEO RAI, Shri Arvind Gupta, Ms Anjali Bansal, Avaana Capital and Shri Anil Agrawal, Additional secretary, DPIIT.

 

The meeting reviewed the status of the pilot launched since April 29, 2022 and discussed plans for faster rollout of the ONDC platform to a larger number of traders, categories of goods, geographies and companies. The success achieved has ignited tremendous interest in many new companies and a large number of companies on buyer side, seller side and logistics side are now building their own apps and are in advanced stages of integration with ONDC.

 

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Piyush Goyal said that Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has stated that the ONDC will open up new opportunities for small traders, MSMEs and businesses. While the pilot phase of ONDC has given promising results with traders who were already digitally present, ONDC must prioritize strategies towards inclusion of non-digital traders, handicraftsmen and artisans so that the benefits of e-commerce may be availed by these sections. The Minister asked the department to launch a pilot with focus on non-digital traders from one single market. He said the local trader associations should be involved in the exercise and necessary measures for awareness generation and capacity building of various stakeholders be taken.

 

During the meeting it was informed that the ONDC and NABARD are working on a program to bring the agriculture sector to ONDC and as a first step, a hackathon is being organized on 1-3 July to build innovative solutions for FPOs (Farmer Producer Organizations). The Minister said that ONDC may prove to be an invaluable tool to assist farmers find the right prices for their produce.

 

It was also apprised that Govt of UP has actively started working with ONDC to get all the ODOP (One District One Product) products available on ONDC network. Shri Goyal directed that building on the template of collaboration with Govt of UP on ODOP products, similar efforts must be made for GI, Khadi, handicraft and tribal products. DPIIT should also work with GOI Ministries and State Governments to get all such entities integrate with ONDC.

 

Minister Goyal also asked the department to leverage the strength of Startup India to build ONDC based applications. As the ONDC architecture removes many entry barriers to e-commerce, it is much more feasible for entrepreneurs to create sustainable businesses on ONDC architecture. The network of Startup India Seed Funded incubators may be leveraged for this purpose. Creation of apps in regional languages should be promoted for catering to the diverse needs of citizens living in various towns and villages across country. Shri Goyal said that ONDC must closely work with various industry associations to bring faster adoption to ONDC.

 

Shri Goyal directed that ONDC network needs to make robust policy framework for building trust in the network. The National Consumer Helpline records show that major grievances of consumers are related to delivery of wrong, defective or damaged product, non-delivery or delayed delivery, no refunds as promised and deficiency in services promised. All these issues must be addressed effectively.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday is hosting a virtual summit with the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa collectively known as the 'BRICS', amid rising concerns over the global economic outlook and a growing political divide between Beijing and New Delhi. While no agenda has been issued for the talks, Ukraine is likely to feature heavily in the background. China has refused to condemn Russia's invasion while criticising sanctions brought against Moscow. India has bought large amounts of Russian oil at a heavy discount, and South Africa abstained on a United Nations vote condemning Russia's actions.

 

Along with Xi, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro are scheduled to join the two days of discussions.

 

China has sought to use the BRICS meetings to further its vision of an alliance to counter the US-led liberal democratic world order while expanding its economic and political footprint.

 

That has produced few tangible results, but Xi remains committed to the idea of an alternative - and principally authoritarian - global governance mode, investing heavily in countries like 

Cambodia while cracking down on civil rights in Hong Kong and boosting its military to assert its claims in the South China Sea and threats to annex Taiwan by force.

 

In an address to the BRICS Economic Summit on Wednesday, Xi said the conflict in Ukraine has 'sounded an alarm for humanity,' continuing its formal position of neutrality while backing its ally Russia.

 

Xi said imposing sanctions could act as a 'boomerang' and a 'double-edged sword,' and that the global community would suffer from 'politicising, mechanising and weaponising' global economic trends and financial flows.

 

'Economic globalisation is an objective requirement for the development of productive forces and an irresistible historical trend,' Xi said.

 

In a recorded video, Bolsonaro made no mention of any country and said that 'the current international context is a cause for concern because of the risks to trade and investment flows to the stability of energy supply chains and investment.'

 

'Brazil's response to these challenges is not to close itself off. On the contrary, we have sought to deepen our economic integration,' he added.

 

The BRICS collective was founded in 2009 when the countries were seen as the potential engine for future global economic growth.

 

Since then, South Africa and Brazil have seen their economies become mired in crisis while China's growth has sharply declined and Russia has become embroiled in its invasion of Ukraine and punishing economic sanctions imposed by the West.

 

China and India have meanwhile feuded over their disputed border and New Delhi's defense partnership with the US, Japan and Australia in what is known as 'The Quad'. Skirmishes along the frontier resulted in a major standoff in 2020 leading to casualties on both sides.

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday urged the pesticides manufacturers to work on alternative products as many farmers have been showing interest in organic and natural farming. He also agreed to take up the industry’s demand on GST cut with the Finance Minister.

 

Addressing the Agrochemicals Conclave in Delhi organised by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) through video conferencing from Solan in Himachal Pradesh, Tomar said the private sector should also join hands with the government to reduce the use of fertilisers and pesticides in farming, even though he agreed that there was no injudicious use of these inputs.

 

Stressing crop diversification

The minister stressed on the industry to work with farmers on crop diversification as higher remunerative crops will help them to increase their income. 'Remuneration is very important for the farmers in the agriculture sector, though increase in production is also very necessary. It is necessary to increase the returns in the field of agriculture and the post-harvest losses to the farmers should be minimal, for which steps need to be taken. The government wants farmers to use technology to shift to remunerative crops,' Tomar said.

 

On the industry’s demand to reduce GST on pesticides to 5 per cent from current 18 per cent, he said the matter is being dealt by the GST Council. Still, he would take up the issue with the finance ministry, but a final decision would be taken by the GST Council, the minister clarified.

 

He highlighted that the Centre has launched many programmes in the last eight years to boost agriculture sector and double farmers’ income.

 

As the country is self-sufficient in foodgrain production, the government has been making efforts to boost oilseeds and pulses output on mission mode. There is need to undertake research in developing new seed varieties to improve crop yield, while the industry should work for balanced use of fertilisers and pesticides.

The All India Kisan Sabha held a national workshop of apple farmers in Kashmir resolving to form an Apple Farmers Federation of India mainly compromising the growers across three states of J&K, Himachal and Uttarakhand, alongwith striving to form small cooperatives.

 

In the workshop AIKS vowed to import the model of cooperatives of Kerala in this region to ensure that the small apple growers are benefited and aren’t invisiblized by the corporates engaged in the apple trade. They have decided to submit a charter of demands to the Union Government and undertake struggles till realisation of the demands which include declaration of Rs 2500 crore package to enhance per hectare productivity of apples.

 

'We have decided to form an 11 member committee of apple growers from J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand who will take up the day to day issues of the farmers on ground,' said Hanan Mollah, general secretary of AIKS. The AIKS said that they are now focussing on issues crop wise across the country and apple remains the backbone of the economy in Kashmir Valley. 'Out of the total Rs 14400 crore value of apple in market only Rs 4300 crore reaches to the actual grower and more than Rs 10,000 crore is taken by the corporates, businessmen and middlemen. This has to be changed and formation of small cooperatives can help us to counter this,' said Mollah.

 

Former legislator and CPI(M) leader Muhammad Yousuf Tarigami, urged the AIKS members from Kerela to help build a ‘Kerala type’ model of cooperatives in northern region of the country. 'Collective cooperative farming will bring bargaining power and facilitate pooling of resources…such real-time experiments only can resist the present exploitation of large trade capitalists and their intermediaries. This will help in uniting the agrarian classes against corporate exploitation,' read the resolution of the farmer leaders.

 

Apple provides livelihood to around nine lakh households in India mainly from Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. J&K produces 77 percent of apple fruit across India followed by 19 percent from Himachal Pradesh and around 2.5 percent from Uttrakhand. The participants in the workshop stated that the Government of India had allowed import of apples to facilitate corporate control over wholesale as well as retail markets.

 

'Corporates make huge profits through multi- national trade manipulations. For example, Afghanistan does not have even one lakh metric ton of Apple production, however six lakh MT of Apple was imported by our country from Afghanistan in the recent period. Such trade manipulations by the corporate are allowed by the Union Government to crash the sales price for the farmers,' read the resolution.

 

These farmer leaders decided to reach out to all the apple farmers, spread across 20 districts across the country, within a stipulated time frame. They said this is the first step towards building a vibrant peasant movement based on the crop specific issues in this sector as part of the peasant movement against corporatization of agriculture.

 

'This government is worried about corporate giants like Adani but growers are suffering and nobody cares about them. Even pesticides are ruining our crops. I suggest that the government should establish a laboratory in every block to ensure the quality of pesticides,' said Tarigami.

Even three years after Gulbarga tur got a Geographical Indication (GI) tag, the growers are reluctant to register for the certificate as 'authorised user' to sell their dal under a brand name.

 

Lack of awareness and lengthy documentation process for registration have been keeping farmers away from availing of such a benefit. An official of Krishi Vignana Kendra (KVK) said despite the best efforts to create awareness among the farmers about the GI tag and holding meetings with Farmers' Producer Organisations (FPOs), the response from tur growers is poor. Hence, State Pulses Board has taken an initiative to convince the growers through FPOs to apply for the certificate of authorised user of GI tag.

 

About 16 large scale growers have applied for the certificate on March 31 after the KVK issued the No Objection Certificate (NOC) and their registration has been published in the GI journal now. They will get the certificate by the end of this month, he explained.

 

Small land owners who grow tur will not apply for certificate as processing cost will be high and profit will be less. They will get benefit only if they tie up with the millers. This apart, the farmers have to furnish several documents including land rights copy, Aadhaar card and soil testing certificate. Hence, they stay away from applying for the certificate, the official explained.

 

The tur dal millers can't directly apply for the certificate. They have to get registered in the name of the farmers for which the growers have to furnish the documents. Due to the competition, small growers could not brand and market their produce after processing. They have to tie up with the millers or should join cluster. The authorised proprietors will be University of Agriculture Sciences, Raichur and State Pulses Board, he explained.

 

Jagadevappa Patil, a tur grower, said he is unaware of the GI tag that was received for tur grown in the district.

 

Farmer leader Basavaraj Ingin said, 'as we grow quality tur, it got GI tag. We initially made a futile bid to get the growers to apply for the certificate. Now, we are trying to convince them through the FPOs to join the cluster so that they can get a competitive price for their produce under the brand name. It will take time.'

 

Millers will not come forward to purchase tur from the authorised users because they get less profit from the quality tur. Forms are printed and are being distributed among the growers. The efforts will yield fruits in three to four years, he added.

The Centre on Wednesday said as much as 2.97 million tonnes (mt) of wheat have been cleared for export up to June 14 in the current fiscal after the shipments were allowed with official approval. It also said exports of atta have been monitored closely so that it does not replace wheat.

 

Briefing media on the prices of essential items, Union Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said the domestic wheat prices have been stable at Rs.30.33/kg as of June 20, which is much below the international rate of Rs.40.96. He said due to the policy measure (ban on export) of the government this has been possible and inflation has been contained.

 

Request from several nations

Pandey said the Government has received requests from several countries for allowing wheat exports but he refused to share details. Sources, however, said as much as 1.5 lakh tonnes have been sent to Bangladesh after the ban. An inter-ministerial committee has been constituted under a joint secretary, Food Ministry, to consider all proposals under government-to-government deals for wheat exports.

 

India had banned wheat export on May 13 but agreed to allow only those quantities for which an irrevocable letter of credit (LC) has been opened on or before the ban was imposed. It also has opened the window of export for friendly and food-insecure countries on government-to-government basis.

 

Pandey said, 'the government is monitoring ( atta prices/export) and it will take appropriate steps. Monitoring is needed as wheat is regulated for export and it should not so happen that wheat gets converted into atta and an excessive quantity of flour gets exported. We have to maintain a balance.' He, however, said the export is on the higher side compared with the year-ago period.

 

As much as 0.26 mt of atta (wheat flour) has been exported between April 1 and June 14, officials said. About 0.57 mt of flour worth Rs.1,842 crore was exported in entire 2021-22 fiscal (means less than 50,000 tonnes a month).

 

Edible oils cool down

Meanwhile, Pandeysaid, 'trends in edible oils prices are very positive due to the government’s timely intervention and global developments.' The average retail prices of packaged edible oils have eased slightly, except for groundnut oil, across the country since the beginning of this month and are ruling between Rs.150 and Rs.190 per litre.

 

Adani Wilmar and Mother Dairy last week announced reduction in MRP (maximum retail price) for different varieties of cooking oils by Rs.10-15 per litre. Both the companies said the stock with new MRPs will hit the market shortly.

 

As per the data compiled by the Department of Consumer Affairs, the average retail prices of groundnut oil (packaged) stood at Rs.188.14 per litre on June 21 against Rs.186.43 per litre on June 1. Mustard oil rates have edged down to Rs.180.85 on June 21 from Rs.183.68 on June 1. The price of vanaspati is flat at Rs.165 per kg. The price of soya oil is marginally down to Rs.167.67 (Rs.169.65), while that of sunflower dipped slightly to Rs.189.99 (Rs.193). Palm oil has dropped to Rs.152.52 on June 21 from Rs.156.4/litre on June 1.

The government is keeping a close watch on exports of wheat flour which has witnessed a surge since the ban on wheat shipments was announced on May 13, Sudhanshu Pandey, secretary, ministry of food and public distribution said on Wednesday.

 

'Exports of wheat flour are on the high side, if you compare with previous months,' Pandey said. He said that the government is monitoring the domestic prices of both wheat and flour. According to the food ministry, 250,000 tonne wheat flour has been exported since April 1, 2022.

 

Trade sources said monthly exports of wheat flour at this time of year had been around 7,000 to 8,000 tonne. However, exports have seen a surge to around 100,000 tonne since the wheat export ban was imposed. Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal are some of the countries, wheat flour is mostly exported to.

 

In value terms, exports of wheat or meslin flour jumped 64% last fiscal from a year before to $247 million, according to the DGCIS data.

 

In the current fiscal so far, India has exported close to 3 million tonne (MT) of wheat. India shipped a record 7 MT of wheat worth $2 billion in FY22, against just 2.1 MT worth $ 0.55 billion in FY21.

 

Apart from allowing exports that were already backed by Letter of Credits, India is discussing proposals or requests from several countries for exporting wheat. These shipments would be to cater for the genuine need for food security through government-to-government (G2G) routes.

 

Sources said several countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, the UAE, South Korea, Oman and Yemen have approached India for wheat imports under bilateral arrangements between governments.

 

As the production of wheat has declined following heat wave conditions in March, the government had to curb exports to improve domestic supplies. Agriculture ministry revised wheat production for the 2021-22 crop year (July-June) to 106 MT from its February’s estimate of 111 MT.

 

After the export ban was imposed, Food Corporation of India tried to procure wheat again and could only get 800,000 as farmers had already sold their produce. FCI’s wheat procurement drive for the current year fell by more than 54% to 18.8 MT till Wednesday from the year-ago level.

 

Meanwhile, the food ministry, in a statement, said that the wholesale prices and retail prices of vanaspati, soyabean oil, sunflower oil and RBD palmolein have decreased over the week.

 

'With the edible oil prices beginning to show a downward trend and are set to decline further, the Indian consumers can expect to pay less for their edible oils. The falling edible oil prices will help in cooling the inflation as well,' according to the statement.