India, whose wheat stocks are overflowing because of bumper crops, has lifted a four-year ban on exports of the grain, a minister said on Saturday, according to a report. India, one of the world's largest wheat producers as well as one of its biggest users, banned wheat exports in early 2007 to boost domestic supplies after production was hit by bad weather and to help keep prices in check.
But now India's grain warehouses are bulging after a string of abundant harvests with the country's wheat crop estimated to have touched a record 80.8 million tonnes in the July-June crop year. "There is no ban. Wheat exports are allowed," Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said on the sidelines of an agriculture event in New Delhi, according to the Press Trust of India. "We have much more stock - much more than the country's requirement," he said.