As the country waits to reap a bumper wheat crop for the third consecutive year, the government on Wednesday ruled out freeing export norms, but instead plans to allocate more wheat to above poverty line (APL) families under the public distribution system and also pump in additional foodgrain into the system through open market sale scheme.

This should partially help in weaning some foodgrain from its brimming stocks which in early March stood at more than 45 million tonne.

?There is no question of allowing wheat export though we have enough stock. The report of wheat output this year is quite encouraging,? agriculture minister Sharad Pawar said on the sidelines of the National Conference for Kharif Campaign here on Thursday.

The government has allocated around 190.20 lakh tonne of foodgrain to states and union territories under the APL category in 2009-10 as against 112 lakh tonne allocated in 2008-09.

At present, around 13.26 crore APL ration card holders are entitled to get 10 to 35 kg of foodgrains per month. The centre bears a subsidy burden of around 59.5% for wheat supplied to APL families under the PDS, while it bears a burden of around 56% for rice supplied to APL families.

Experts believe that the government?s food subsidy for 2010-2011 could inflate further if more grains are sold through the public distribution system (PDS). The minister also said that allocations of wheat under the open market sale scheme will be hiked to absorb some of the excess foodgrains stocks.

Since 2009, the government has allocated 61.32 lakh tonne of wheat and 20.92 lakh tonne of rice for sale under the open market scheme for bulk consumers and also to states. Pawar also hinted that the government may extend duty-free import of wheat beyond March 31. The zero-duty import benefit for wheat is to expire this month-end.

On sugar, the minister said, as per latest estimate output in 2009-10 is expected to be more than 17 million tonne, far more than the earlier estimate of 14.6 million tonne. He also ruled out re-imposition of import duties as being demanded by a section of the industry to check fall in retail prices.

Government may hike issue price of wheat and rice

The Cabinet is likely to discuss a proposal to the central issue price of wheat and rice sold to APL families through the public distribution system at its meeting scheduled for Thursday. Sources said the proposal is to hike CIP of wheat to Rs 1,100 per quintal from the current Rs 600 per quintal, while that of rice to Rs 1,537 per quintal from the current Rs 830 per quintal. The issue price has not been revised since 2002.