Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar said that his ministry is not pushing for foodgrains export in view of the proposed National Food Security Bill, reversing its earlier position on overseas sales of wheat and non-basmati rice.

?We are not in a position to push for exports,? Pawar told reporters in New Delhi on Tuesday.

?Our policy on exports will depend on local requirement of grains under a new law that will guarantee food to the consumers,? he said after the nation?s food minister KV Thomas said on June 29 that he was not against exports.

An extension of the ban on shipments from the world?s second-biggest wheat and rice producer may help global wheat futures extend a 26% rally in the past year that partly fueled global food costs to a record in February. Rice futures have advanced 56 % in the same period.

India banned shipments of wheat in early 2007 and non- basmati rice in April 2008 to bolster domestic supplies amid a global food crisis. Thomas said last week that there were suggestions to allow exports of 2 million tonne of wheat and 1 million tonne of rice and a panel of ministers would take a decision soon.

India may need as much as 70 million tonne of rice and wheat to be supplied at subsidized rates to its citizens after the parliament approves the bill, Thomas said on June 17. The government?s current grains requirement is about 60 million tonne for various welfare programs, he said.

India likely harvested a record 86 million tonne of wheat in the year ended June 30, a 6.4% increase from a year earlier, Agriculture Secretary PK Basu said on June 13.

Rice output likely totaled 94.11 million tonne, up from 89.1 million tonne, the agriculture ministry said in April.

The government, which buys grains from farmers at guaranteed prices and sells to the poor at cheaper-than-market rates, has record stockpiles of 65.5 million tonne of grains, Thomas said.

Asked if there could be any impact of below normal monsoon on agricultural output, Pawar said it is too early to say as sowing operations in the Kharif season continue till third week of August.

The draft National Food Security Bill, which aims to give a legal right over subsidised foodgrains to the poor, would also be discussed at the forthcoming EGoM meeting.