NEW DELHI: The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), however, said that exports of wheat flour, maida, semolina and wholemeal atta would be allowed subject to permission of the Government of India in certain cases, after banning wheat exports in May.

“Export policy of items (wheat or meslin flour, maida, semolina, wholemeal aata, and resultant aata) is amended from free to prohibited,” according to the DGFT’s notification. Semolina also includes rawa and sirgi.

It added that the provisions under the foreign trade policy 2015-20, regarding transitional arrangements, will “not” be applicable under this notification.

On August 25, the government decided to put restrictions on the export of wheat or meslin flour to curb rising prices of the commodity. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).

“The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs…has approved the proposal for amendment of policy of exemption for wheat or meslin flour from export restrictions/ban,” an official statement has said.

Russia and Ukraine are the major exporters of wheat, accounting for around one-fourth of the global wheat trade. The war between the two countries has led to global wheat supply chain disruptions, thus increasing the demand for Indian wheat.

As a result, the price of wheat in the domestic market has shown an increase. In order to ensure food security of the Country, the Government put a prohibition on export of wheat in May. However, this caused a jump in overseas demand for wheat flour. Wheat flour exports from India have registered a growth of 200 per cent during April-July 2022 compared to the corresponding period in 2021.