India should allow exports of wheat and rice as the country has huge grain stocks and global prices are favourable, Farm Minister Sharad Pawar said on Wednesday. Pawar's remarks came a day after India forecast normal monsoon rains which could boost farm output and encourage exports, though concerns over persistently high domestic food prices may weigh on any government decision to sell overseas.
And with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Congress party facing a slew of state elections, the government is unlikely to take chances with grain stocks. "The government will definitely apply its mind whether to enter international markets. International markets are favourable for wheat, rice, sugar and cotton for exports. In all these, we are comfortable," Pawar told reporters. India, the world's second-largest producer of wheat and rice, has kept a tight control over grain exports since 2007 when adverse weather conditions hit production and the Indian government had to turn to costly imports.
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