India has taken special measures to expedite shipment of rice and wheat to Bangladesh, which has been delayed due to bureaucratic tangle in the neighbouring country.
Official sources said upon a request from Bangladesh government, India agreed to export 300,000 tonnes of rice and 200,000 tonnes of wheat to Bangladesh at a friendship price.
This was agreed upon despite India's formal ban on export of these essential commodities to ensure availability in its domestic market.
Foreign ministry sources said India gave the commitment to supply the grains ahead of Ramadan in August but the shipment is yet to arrive due to procedural complexities, like tender bids, in India.
India banned wheat exports in October 2007 and of non-basmati rice from April 2008.
The ban, however, was relaxed when the Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee gave the commitment to exporting the grains during his visit to Dhaka in August.
Officials at the foreign and finance ministries said Bangladesh's Finance Minister AMA Muhith told Mukherjee, during the World bank and IMF meeting in Washington DC, that the shipments had not come.
Foreign ministry sources said Mukherjee, on return from the United States, held an emergency meeting with top officials of the ministries of commerce, food and external affairs on Tuesday to ensure immediate shipment of rice and wheat to Bangladesh.
The Indian finance minister, during his meeting with union food secretary, commerce secretary and foreign secretary, instructed for immediate measures for the shipment. He told them that he wants his commitment to be honoured immediately.
In 2008, India restarted export of rice to Bangladesh following a promise made by Mukherjee during his visit to the cyclone-hit areas of the country.
According to the Indian media, the Indian government had a stock of 50.34 million tonnes at the end of August. Of this, the share of Food Corporation of India was 26.24 million tonnes, while the share of state agencies was 24 million tonnes.