Commerce dept hesitant in handling wheat imports
The commerce department has written to the empowered group of ministers (eGoM) on wheat imports, asking it to reconsider the decision of making it the nodal department for importing wheat.
By Amiti Sen, TNN |
NEW DELHI: The commerce department has written to the empowered group of ministers (eGoM) on wheat imports, asking it to reconsider the decision of making it the nodal department for importing wheat.
In a letter to eGoM chairman Pranab Mukherjee, the commerce department has said that it might not be properly equipped to take decisions on timing of import and quantum of import, and the eGoM could consider vesting the responsibility to some other department.
The eGoM had asked trading bodies STC, MMTC and PEC, operating under the commerce department, to take care of all wheat imports as it was unhappy with the way the decision to import wheat was implemented earlier this year.
Speaking to ET, senior officials in the commerce department said that it was evident that at least for the current year, the eGoM would stick to its decision of authorising the three trading bodies to import wheat.
The UPA government received a lot of flak for cancelling a tender for buying wheat at $263/tonne in March this year and later being forced to import 5.11 lakh tonne of wheat in June at $325/tonne and then later, 8 lakh tonne at $390/tonne. The Centre is unhappy because tenders were cancelled twice, aruging that wheat prices woudl fall in future.
“Since the STC had, at that time, said that the order should not be cancelled as international prices were expected to go up, the eGoM decided that it is best equipped to handle imports. MMTC and PEC have also been roped in to avoid a monopoly situation,” an official said.
Officials stressed that the commerce department would act strictly, according to the decision on imports taken by the eGoM. “We are going to import as much as the eGoM thinks is appropriate. We will go strictly by the book and keep things as transparent as possible,” the official said.
The food ministry’s decision to cancel import orders when the wheat prices were low has not just led to criticism by the opposition parties and the Left but has also made the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) take note of the issue and demand documents for verification.
In a letter to eGoM chairman Pranab Mukherjee, the commerce department has said that it might not be properly equipped to take decisions on timing of import and quantum of import, and the eGoM could consider vesting the responsibility to some other department.
The eGoM had asked trading bodies STC, MMTC and PEC, operating under the commerce department, to take care of all wheat imports as it was unhappy with the way the decision to import wheat was implemented earlier this year.
Speaking to ET, senior officials in the commerce department said that it was evident that at least for the current year, the eGoM would stick to its decision of authorising the three trading bodies to import wheat.
The UPA government received a lot of flak for cancelling a tender for buying wheat at $263/tonne in March this year and later being forced to import 5.11 lakh tonne of wheat in June at $325/tonne and then later, 8 lakh tonne at $390/tonne. The Centre is unhappy because tenders were cancelled twice, aruging that wheat prices woudl fall in future.
“Since the STC had, at that time, said that the order should not be cancelled as international prices were expected to go up, the eGoM decided that it is best equipped to handle imports. MMTC and PEC have also been roped in to avoid a monopoly situation,” an official said.
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Officials stressed that the commerce department would act strictly, according to the decision on imports taken by the eGoM. “We are going to import as much as the eGoM thinks is appropriate. We will go strictly by the book and keep things as transparent as possible,” the official said.
The food ministry’s decision to cancel import orders when the wheat prices were low has not just led to criticism by the opposition parties and the Left but has also made the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) take note of the issue and demand documents for verification.
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