January 4: The Government of India is preparing to send 50,000 metric tons of wheat to Nepal in the first lot after collecting the details of the wheat required by Nepal's industry.

Kumud Dugad, central president of Nepal Flour Mills Association, said that the industries of Nepal require 250,000 tons of wheat by mid-April. But even if 50,000 metric tons comes in the first batch, there will be some relief.

Dugad said that the import was delayed because accurate data was not sent to the Indian government on time. He informed New Business Age that the data of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development showed that Nepal produced 2.9 million tons of wheat and the Indian side assumed that there is enough stock of wheat in Nepal based on the same data. The problem surfaced because they did not show interest in opening the export immediately.

According to Dugad, the price of flour in Nepal will drop by Rs 10 per kilogram after importing wheat from India. The current price of wheat in Nepal is Rs 52 per kg. Similarly, fine flour costs Rs 70, common flour Rs 76, semolina Rs 80 and bran Rs 46 per kg without VAT.

The price of wheat in India is INR 28.50 per kg, fine flour INR 32, common flour INR 34, and bran INR 28 per kg. A kilogram of wheat is Rs 5.40 cheaper in India than in Nepal.

A total of 28 mills in Nepal need 250,000 tons of wheat for three months. Bikas Begwani, vice president of Morang Trade Association stated that for the next year, the government should fix the quota in consultation with the Indian government and arrange the wheat required for the country.

Due to the shortage of wheat, the production of most of the flour mills in Nepal has been limited to 20 to 40 percent. At this time, the price of flour in India and Nepal differs by Rs 300 per quintal.

Bhavesh Rathi, a member of the Confederation of Nepalese Industry and the owner of Baba Flour Mill, says that due to this, there will be an increase in smuggling and the domestic industry will be in further crisis.

Citing the Russia-Ukraine war, India had imposed a ban on wheat export eight months ago. Before the ban, the price of fine flour in Nepal was Rs 50 per kg, common flour was Rs 55 per kg, semolina was Rs 60 per kg and bran was Rs 38 per kg.