Indian flour mills have contracted to import 3 lakh tonnes (LT) of wheat from Australia and France in anticipation of shortfall in domestic output because of severe drought. The shipment will reach the country between July and September.
The private flour millers had last year purchased about 5 LT of wheat from Australia for the first time in a decade due to sluggish supply of domestic high protein wheat and lower international prices. The government’s wheat purchase so far stood at 22.8 million tonnes (MT) against the target of 30.5 MT set for this year. As on April 1, the state-owned FCI had a wheat stock of 30 MT, much higher than the actual requirement of 7.46 MT.
