A Delhi-based firm, Gaurav Exports, has registered 500 tonnes of wheat for export to Bangladesh, Agriculture Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) officials said. Though Apeda had set the deadline for registering export contracts on June 28, exporters could continue to enter into contracts till the full quota of one million tonnes was exhausted, they said.

``Now export registration would be allowed on first-come-first-serve basis till the permitted quota is exhausted with a deadline of March 31, 2000,'' officials said. The centre had allowed wheat exports up to 10 lakh tonnes during the current fiscal in mid- May following a bumper wheat crop of over 72 million tonnes and more than comfortable buffer stocks. This was in addition to the permission to export one lakh tonnes of wheat productsmainly for the consumption of overseas Indians. Industry sources attributed the cold response to the export permission to the wide gap in the international wheat prices and that in the domestic market.

Taking advantage of the difference in international prices, domestic roller flour millers are estimated to have already imported nearly four lakh tonnes of wheat mainly from Turkey and Australia. While wheat from Turkey was available at CIF prices of $120, the Australian wheat was available for $140 CIF as against the domestic price of about $190, Kapoor said.

According to Roller Flour Millers' Federation of India, roller flour millers mainly from the south are likely to import about 10 lakh tonnes of wheat during 1999-2000. India is estimated to have imported around 1.35 million tonnes of wheat during the last year valued at around $214 million.