January 29: The import of wheat from Birgunj, the country's main trade port, has come to a standstill in the first six months of the current fisccal year. The data of Birgunj Customs shows that no wheat was imported from mid-July to mid-January due to India's policy to restrict on food exports. The lack if initiative of the Government of Nepal is also to blame for the short supply.

As a result, the price of wheat flour in the domestic market has skyrocketed. Chief Customs Officer Dhan Bahadur Baruwal informed that during the review period of the previous year, 16,334,000 kg of wheat worth Rs 516.1 million was imported through Birgunj customs alone.

Due to the Russia-Ukraine war, India adopted a policy of restricting food exports while considering the possibility of food shortages around the world. India has adopted a policy of controlling prices even by halting exports.

After India adopted the policy of restricting the export of wheat, paddy, rice, sugar and other food items to control prices, Nepal has been facing problems in importing those items.

Even though India asked 20 countries including Nepal for the required quota of wheat, the government did not send the quota within the deadline. Although the government sought for the requirement of wheat from the industrialists, it did not communicate with India on time even after receiving the requirement of the domestic industries.

India recently pledged a quota of 50,000 tons of wheat to Nepal. The government has already received 30,000 tons of wheat under this quota and has already distributed it to some industries.  India also imposed an additional duty of 20 percent on the export of paddy and rice. At the request of the Government of Nepal, India waived such duty on 600,000 tons of rice.

 According to customs data, 38 percent more paddy has been imported in six months of this year than the corresponding period of last fiscal year. During the first six months of last fiscal year, 681,000 tons of rice was imported. Now that the import of rice has decreased by 30 percent while the prices have increased.

The import of rice granules also dropped significantly. According to data, the import of rice granules decreased by 71 percent. As per the customs data, the import of corn, millet, barley has also decreased significantly.