Govt may raise import duty on wheat to 40%

24 Apr 2019 Evaluate

In order to rule out any possibility of cheaper imports amid the harvesting of the new crop, the government may raise the import duty on wheat to 40% from the current 30%. The import duty increase will force flour millers to buy wheat from FCI, which is set to offload stocks rather than source the grain from other countries.

After the proposal of increase in import duty on wheat to 40% approved by a panel of secretaries, the Election Commission (EC) is likely to clear the same soon. The Centre is expecting to buy 38-40 million tonne (MT) of wheat this year, after which the stock with FCI may reach to about 58 million tonne by end of May.

India had imported 5.75 MT of wheat in FY2016-17, against 518,000 tonne in 2015-16. The wheat import was 1.2 MT during 2017-18, while the increase in duty last year helped the country to check any import in 2018-19. India’s wheat production is estimated at record 99.12 MT in 2018-19 crop year (July-June).

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