New Delhi : After a gap of eight years, government imposed 10% import duty on wheat till March 2016 to curb inward shipments at a time when there is excess domestic stock, reports PTI.
The move is expected to help the government fetch about Rs 90 crore.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley laid a copy of the notification on the decision in the Lok Sabha, saying it seeks to “impose basic customs duty of 10 per cent on wheat till March 31, 2016 under Section 159 of the Customs Act 1962.
Imports are happening despite bumper domestic wheat output in 2014-15 crop year and surplus stocks with the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the nodal agency for procurement and distribution of foodgrains.
As the world’s second biggest wheat grower, India has a huge stock of over 40 million tonnes of the grain, of which more than half is of poor quality grain procured this year.
Private traders are importing wheat on lower global prices and lack of high-quality grain in the domestic market needed for use in fast-food industry. Wheat production in India is estimated to have declined to 90.78 million tonnes in 2014-15, as against the record production of 95.85 million tonnes during 2013-14.
