India may reduce or eliminate wheat import tax

The Indian government is considering reducing or even eliminating the 40% wheat import tax and lowering the limit on the amount of wheat stocks that millers and traders can hold, The Daily Star reports.

Let us recall that in order to reduce domestic prices, India in June introduced restrictions on the amount of wheat stocks that traders can store. The government is also offering wheat to wholesale buyers such as biscuit makers to increase supply in the local market. Prices for Indian wheat jumped by 12% over the past 4 months – to 25,174 thousand rupees ($303.85) per ton, which is the highest in almost 6 months.

According to the country's Ministry of Agriculture, wheat production increased to a record 112.74 million tons in 2023, up from 107.7 million tons a year earlier. India consumes about 108 million tons of wheat annually. However, India's 2023 wheat harvest was at least 10% below official estimates, traders said. However, state wheat reserves amounted to 28.3 million tons against the planned 24.5 million tons.