India will make available two million tonnes of wheat for export to meet requests made through diplomatic channels for an exemption from the country's export ban, the farm minister said on Wednesday. "We have kept two million tonnes of wheat for supplies to some countries," Sharad Pawar told reporters after meeting farm ministers from South Asian countries.
"The External Affairs Ministry has to decide on quantities to be supplied to countries which have requested us for wheat," Pawar said. India banned wheat exports in 2007. Analysts say robust output and higher stocks at government warehouses have enabled India, the world's second-biggest producer, to set aside some wheat for overseas supplies.
The country's wheat harvest in 2009 should top last year's record of 78.4 million tonnes as good weather conditions would improve yields, Pawar had said on Tuesday. India grows one wheat crop in a year. Farmers begin planting the grain in October and harvest the crop in March-April.