The Indian government on Tuesday allowed the import of fresh and chilled potatoes from Bhutan without any license up to June 2023, Mint reported.

According to a notification by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), import of potatoes from Bhutan is permitted freely without any license up to June 30".

The government is allowing wheat shipments for which irrevocable letters of credit (L/C) were issued on or before May 13, when the ban on the export of the food grain was imposed with the aim to contain rising prices.

The war between Russia and Ukraine has severely impacted the flow of wheat in the global markets as they are key players in the sector. Russia and Ukraine together account for almost a quarter of the global wheat supply.

Exporters having valid L/Cs would have to register with the Regional Authorities of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) to obtain registration of contracts (RCs) to ship their consignments.

"RCs for about 1.6 million tonne have been issued so far," the official said adding as Russia has started exports of wheat through Turkey, prices in the global markets may stabilise.

India's wheat exports stood at 7 million tonnes, valued at USD 2.05 billion, in 2021-22 on better demand for Indian wheat from overseas.

Of the total wheat exports, around 50 percent of shipments were exported to Bangladesh in last fiscal year.

The top ten importing countries for Indian wheat in 2020-21 were Bangladesh, Nepal, the United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Afghanistan, Qatar, Indonesia, Oman and Malaysia.

India accounts for less than 1 percent of the world’s wheat export. It is the second-largest producer of wheat. It had contributed around 14 percent of the world's total production in 2020.

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