More than 300,000 tonnes of wheat, being imported duty free to replenish government stocks, have so far been offloaded at various Indian ports, the Food Ministry said on Friday.
India has contracted for about 3.8 million tonnes of wheat since March, the first wheat imports in six years. But more is likely to be required before the next crop in March-April to meet a shortfall in domestic supplies, traders said.
The ministry said in a statement 310,000 tonnes had arrived by Thursday and a further 119,000 tonnes of wheat were being offloaded at the southern port of Chennai and western Mundhra port, while a shipment of 40,798 tonnes was undergoing quality checks at the southern Vishakhapatnam port.
Seven more ships with 316,000 tonnes of wheat are sailing to Indian ports of which six are due to arrive in two weeks while the seventh was scheduled to reach India by September 20, it said.
Indian agencies have managed to procure only 9.2 million tonnes of wheat from domestic farmers this year, compared with original estimates of 16.2 million tonnes, as market prices had soared above those offered by government agencies.
Government stocks of wheat were estimated at 8.2 million tonnes on July 1, nearly nine million tonnes lower than the required level of 17.1 million tonnes at that date.