ITC is the largest buyer of Indian wheat after the Food Corporation of India (FCI). While the industry and the government have projected wheat exports to be around 12-15 million tonnes in FY 23, ITC is optimistic about much higher exports.
In an email interaction with ET, Rajnikant Rai, divisional chief executive, agri business, ITC said, “In FY 21, India exported about 2.1 million tonnes of wheat, while in FY22 it rose up to 7 million tonnes. The current geo-political circumstances could create larger opportunities to boost wheat exports. In FY23, the country is setting up itself to triple its wheat exports to 21 million tonnes, by rapidly ramping up port infrastructure and export logistics to port location.”
ITC shipped out about 2 million tonnes of wheat and wheat products in FY 22.
Indian wheat is discounted by $50 compared to Canadian or Ukrainian wheat. “Therefore, the demand for Indian grain is more, adding to India’s advantage. India has already committed 2-2.5MT for the first quarter of the current crop year for exports,” said Rai.
India has traditionally exported wheat majorly to Bangladesh, Oman, Qatar, Sri Lanka and other Middle Eastern countries. “However, with the Russia-Ukraine war disrupting the global wheat supply chain, India is looking to gain markets that traditionally imported wheat from Russia and Ukraine. These countries include Nigeria, Turkey, Egypt, Vietnam, Tanzania, Morocco, etc,” he said.