New Delhi, Dec 14: Accounting for the bullish international grains' market, the government has hiked by a major 300-500 per tonne the ex-godown prices at which it sells wheat and rice to exporters. There has been an across-the-board Rs 500 per tonne hike for wheat harvested in the crop years 1998-2003 and the corresponding increase for rice, both par-boiled and raw, is Rs 300 per tonne. The prices will be effective for the January- March quarter next year.
The crop harvested in 2003 will now be available to traders for Rs 6,525 per tonne, up from Rs 6,025 per tonne. The 2002 crop will be sold at Rs 6,225 per tonne against rs 5,725 per tonne in the current quarter. The new ex-granary price for 2000 and 2001 crops is Rs 6,085 a tonne. The rice export prices, which had been left untouched in the current quarter, have also been hiked. The 2002 crop will be available to exporters at Rs 7,800 per tonne and Rs 7,600 a tonne for the par-boiled and raw varieties respectively. Bureau Report