Importing wheat from India: Govt prepping for G2G deal
Bangladesh is preparing to strike a deal to import wheat from India, said food ministry Secretary Mosammat Nazmunara Khanum.
The development comes a day after India banned wheat exports to contain its domestic prices, but said it would be mindful of the needs of the neighbouring and other vulnerable countries.
Indian officials earlier said the ban on wheat export was unlikely to affect government-to-government deals.
"That's why, we are preparing to ink a government-to-government deal with India on wheat import," she said, adding, "Although India imposed an embargo on wheat export, its government still can export wheat if it wants."
Eighty-six percent of Bangladesh's annual demand for 85 lakh tonnes of wheat is met from imports. The country started procuring the cereal from India in significant volumes in 2020.
In the Indian financial year that ended on March 31, Bangladesh was the largest importer of wheat, accounting for nearly half of its record 7 million tonnes of wheat exports, according to estimates by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade under the commerce ministry.
The secretary yesterday said the government earlier secured a contract of importing 3 lakh tonnes of the grain. "Of it, we have already received 50,000 tonnes, a shipment of another 100,000 tonnes is on the way to Bangladesh, and we will get the remaining 1.5 lakh tonnes as per the contract," she added.
Bangladesh is also finalising a deal with Bulgaria, she said.
"Since there are uncertainties over how long the war in Ukraine may continue… we are now working on importing wheat to meet the demand in the first three months of the upcoming fiscal."
Meanwhile, Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder yesterday said the country will not face a food crisis and India's restriction on wheat export will not affect Bangladesh.
"Wheat export has not been banned by the Indian government. It is restricted for commercial sales. This will have no impact on Bangladesh," the minister said while visiting a government food storage facility in Sylhet.
Bangladesh used to import wheat from Russia and Ukraine before the war started between those countries, he said.
"Boro harvest suffered a little due to the recent flash floods, but the harvest was huge compared to the loss... We also have enough paddy from the last Aush and Aman seasons. The next Aman season will be good because of the sufficient early rainfall."
Comments