With rains playing truant this season, the government on Wednesday said there will be no export of foodgrains for at least one year.
High demand from India and China has depleted the palm oil stock of Malaysia, triggering fears of a price rice in the global market.
The government is actively considering putting quantitative restrictions on foodgrains exports or alternatively increasing the ex-granary prices as part of a proposed new grain export policy.
India owes Iran around $8.8 billion primarily on account of crude oil imports.
The government has removed restrictions on exports from the farm sector, apart from doing away with the registration requirement for exports of non-basmati rice and pulses in packages of five kilos.
Contraction in exports continued for the 12th month in a row in November as outward shipments shrank 24.43 per cent to $ 20.01 billion amid a global demand slowdown.
Nepal's decision to ban the import of non-essential items amid depleting forex reserves may hit Indian exports. The country's central bank - Nepal Rastra Bank - last week instructed commercial banks not to open letters of credit (LCs) for importing non-essential items. This is to prevent further decline of the country's foreign exchange reserves. However, it has not issued any formal communication yet.
India's merchandise exports in February shrank for the 15th straight month on continued weak demand from Europe, the South Asian nation's biggest market.
India's exports dipped deeper in the negative zone.
The growth has slowed down with exports at $6.7 billion last year.
India consistently ranked among the top three countries whose products were rejected for import by the regulator.
The government on Monday said there is sufficient wheat stock in the country and that it will take action against hoarders, if needed, to boost domestic supply. The Centre may consider steps like asking for disclosure of wheat stocks by traders and imposing stock limits to augment domestic availability. Addressing the 82nd AGM of Roller Flour Millers Federation of India, food secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said there is no problem of wheat in the country and the Centre has 24 million tonne of wheat in godowns of state-owned FCI. The secretary pointed out that wheat prices have gone up due to "speculative trading".
The growth in world trade is expected to slow down to one per cent in 2023, due to global uncertainties, according to a WTO forecast. The World Trade Organization (WTO) has also projected a growth of 3.5 per cent in global trade this year, as against the April estimate of 3 per cent. World trade is expected to lose momentum in the second half of 2022 and remain subdued in 2023, as multiple shocks weigh on the global economy, the multi-lateral body has said in a statement.
Consumer-focused companies have been left with few options but to increase the prices of their products as input costs mount because of various factors, including supply chain disruptions. This has been affecting monthly household budgets. Prices of scores of items -- from spices to soaps to rice -- have increased in the past year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in the United States for a three-day state visit, has gifted an eco-friendly lab-grown 7.5 carat diamond, placed in Kashmir's exquisite Papier mache box, to First Lady Jill Biden.
The minister emphasised that India will play its due role in advancing global food security and it will do so in a manner in which it upholds equity, displays compassion, and promotes social justice.
After a five-day long visit, Apple CEO Tim Cook left India with a note that he can't wait to return to the country. The visit of Cook coincided with 25 years of the iPhone maker's presence in India. Cook arrived in India on Monday. The visit started with the launch of the first official Apple store in Mumbai on April 18 followed by a second in the national capital on April 20.
'My God, we could win half the world over just by our food alone.'
The government on Monday ruled out making public the RBI report detailing the reasons why the central bank could not keep inflation within the targeted 6 per cent upper limit for the three consecutive quarters. "Yes sir, RBI has furnished a report to the central government, as mandated under Section 45ZN of the RBI Act, 1934 and Regulation 7 of RBI Monetary Policy Committee and Monetary Policy process Regulations, 2016," minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply. The said provisions of the RBI Act, 1934, and regulations therein does not provide for making the report public, he said.
The government has no plans to import wheat as it has sufficient stocks to meet the country's requirements, official sources said. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) has enough stock for public distribution, they added. "There are no plans to import wheat into India. "The country has sufficient stocks to meet our domestic requirements," a source said.
>The farmers will go home but the country will not get the agricultural reform it badly needs -- if nothing else, then to prevent a bigger water crisis than already exists, argues T N Ninan.
'Revision of the base year for both CPI and GDP are long overdue.' 'The basic data that went into the 2011-2012 series were mainly from surveys done in 2011 or earlier.' 'We have since seen the emergence of new sectors like platform-based work and online marketing.' 'The employment surveys and the consumption surveys need to reflect these adequately.'
Indian farmers depend on June-September monsoon rains, as half of the country's farmland lacks irrigation facilities.
'This announcement is big foolishness.' 'The government has no idea of economics. They are just announcing what comes to their mind.' 'Let them implement what they have announced and just see what will happen in two years.'
India's opening stocks of wheat in the central pool are expected to be 19.5-20 million tonnes as on April 1, 2022, the lowest in the last three years, but much higher than the normative level required for maintaining a buffer and strategic reserve, trade and market sources said. In accordance with the buffer and strategic reserve norms, India should have a wheat stock of 7.5 million tonnes in the central pool as on April 1 each year and this year's stocks, though the lowest in the last three years, will still be over 160 per cent more than what is required. On the export front, both government and trade sources are unanimous that this year (FY22) they will be 7-7.25 million tonnes, a record, while in the next financial year, they might touch even 10 million tonnes if the current momentum is maintained.
Meanwhile, with China switching its trading partners due to geo-political issues, increased trade with South Africa for bauxite and with the US for coal is also auguring well for vessels with tonne miles going up.
'All imaginary figures are pushed by government bureaucrats.' 'They never showed that the production of wheat was less this time.'
Continuing his Lok Sabha plank of ousting the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday sought a clear mandate for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Haryana for putting the state on a growth trajectory.
Margaret A Hamburg, the first commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) to visit India officially, will meet heads of major domestic pharma companies such as Ranbaxy, Wockhardt, Cadila Healthcare and Lupin in New Delhi.
With Iran reaching an agreement on its nuclear programme, India is expected to be one of the major gainers.
The PM gave a call for 'Sabka Prayas' (everyone's efforts) along with ''Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas'' for building a self-reliant India.
'And Joshimath has already shown the dangers ahead.' 'We have to acknowledge that our mountains are still young babies.' 'You don't put an extra load on the back of a growing child!'
State Bank of India's house economists on Monday said the recent farm sector reforms reek of parochial thinking and promote lazy farming as they only cater to cereal-producing states. In the recently concluded monsoon session, the government rushed through three legislation to change the way agricultural produce is marketed, sold and stored by dismantling the decades-old APMC (Agricultural Produce Market Committee) mandis.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday exuded confidence that inflation would further decline and the government is on track to meet its budgetary target for deficit and said that there is no fear of stagflation in India. Replying to the debate on first batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants 2022-23 in Lok Sabha, the finance minister said inflation has come down and it is now in the tolerable band of the RBI. Inflation has been declining since April 2022 and it is declining further, she said.
'We are not talking pennies. The milk business is as large as the automobile industry (about Rs 4 trillion in sales),' points out T N Ninan.
To celebrate the new trade deal with India, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Saturday took to Instagram to post a picture showing him preparing khichdi, his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi's favourite dish.
Dozens of farmers have already committed suicide in India after damage from unseasonal rains this year.
The Travancore Devaswom Board, which manages the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala, on Thursday told the Kerala high court that the jaggery received by it had 'halal' mentioned on the packaging as they are also exported to Arab countries by the company supplying to them.
With palm oil having 55 per cent share in total edible oil imports, the National Mission on Edible Oil-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) would ensure that farmers get all facilities, from quality seeds to technology to promote cultivation of palm and other oil seeds, he said. Modi made this announcement after virtually releasing the ninth installment of Rs 19,500 crore to 9.75 crore beneficiary farmers under the government's flagship scheme PM-KISAN.
Indian cotton and paddy could see their competitiveness in international markets take a hit
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances