Quality issue related to Indian wheat to be resolved soon: K V Thomas

According to Food Minister, K V Thomas, Iran will soon resolve the quality issue of Karnal Bunt, a fungal disease related to Indian wheat and may initially import two lakh tonnes of grain during the December-January period. Thomas also stated that, India exports wheat to 25 odd countries as it is internationally accepted. If Iran is planning to buy wheat from India then it has to resolve the quality issue at their end.

The US and some other western countries have imposed a trade sanctions on Iran due to its nuclear programme and the country is severely impacted by this move. Through a bilateral payment arrangement the west Asian country wants to step up trade with India particularly in food products.

The wheat export transactions will be done through the UCO Bank in India. India’s offer to export wheat to Iran includes the shipment at $340 a tonne, loading from Kandla and Mundra ports and the Karnal Bunt tolerance limit of 0.25%.

Since 1996, due to quality hurdles Iran has not been importing Indian wheat. There is a surplus availability of wheat in India due to which the country is scouting for global wheat market. Over 1.5 million tonnes of wheat has already been exported since the country lifted the export ban in September 2011.