CCEA okays additional 2 MT wheat exports from FCI godowns

New Delhi, Aug 8. The government today allowed wheat exports of additional 2 million tonnes from its godowns through public sector trading firms, to clear surplus stock and ease storage crunch. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the food ministry's proposal to export additional 2 million tonnes of wheat, sources said after the meeting. The exports would be from godowns of Food Corporation of India (FCI) and shipments would be undertaken by the state-owned trading firms STC, MMTC and PEC. The government had allowed 4.5 million tonnes of wheat exports from FCI godowns during last fiscal through PSUs. Of this, about 4.2 million tonnes have already been exported for over Rs 7,000 crore. The government has allowed an additional exports as it is sitting on a huge stock of 40 million tonnes of wheat against the requirement of 14 million tonnes at the end of September 2013. The overflowing stocks in FCI godowns have put pressure on storage availability, despite sharp decline in collection this year. FCI and other state agencies procured only about 25 million tonnes this year against 38 million tonnes last year. The drop in procurement was due to fall in production and aggressive purchase by private traders. Wheat production stood at 92.46 million tonnes in 2012-13 against a record 94.88 million tonnes in the previous year. To clear stocks, the government had also allowed private trade to export 5 million tonnes of wheat from FCI godowns, but shipment did not pick up due to lower global prices compared with government benchmark price.