After United States, Canada is eyeing wheat sales to India. Canadian Wheat Board senior official Bruce Burnett said that Canada is looking forward to export wheat to India.
"We are looking at a small increase in Indian wheat production which should translate into fewer imports by the country," he said.
He said imports by the South Asian nation are likely to be lower than last year.
Burnett, who was in Mumbai to attend a global commodities forum said that Canada will be willing to supply wheat to India if needed. "It is certainly a market we are looking at," he added.
Last week, the United States had asked the Indian government to relax the norms to import wheat.
The US Administration said relaxation of the norms would enable American companies that can export wheat to India will help them do so.
The US, one of the world's largest wheat exporters, has been lobbying for a change in the norms since 2006.
The Indian government believes this chemical is required to kill certain pests found in the US that thrive in the tropical climate of the subcontinent.
The US has also been seeking a relaxation in norms applied internationally to ascertain pesticide content in wheat. The US Administration has pointed out that the Codex norms, which are the internationally recognised norms should be relaxed for its imports as its internal standards are lower than these.
The Codex standard is an international food standard accepted by 146 countries, but is not legally binding.
In 2006, the Indian government imported 5.5mt million tonnes of wheat from abroad; private companies imported 8,00,000 tonnes. This was the country's first import of the grain in six years. Most imports came from Australia.
