<p>India has allowed export-oriented units and the firms set up in Special Economic Zones to export flour made from imported wheat, a government order said on Friday, conceding to the demands of food processors to allow shipments of value-added products.</p>.<p>India will allow food processors to import duty-free wheat against a commitment to export flour, the order said.</p>.<p>After a sudden rise in temperatures in mid-March shrivelled the wheat crop, India, the world's second-biggest producer of the grain, banned overseas sales of the staple to secure supplies for its 1.4 billion people.</p>.<p>Wheat exports from India, also the world's second biggest consumer of the staple, surged after Russia's invasion of Ukraine hit supplies from the Black Sea region, resulting in a jump in global prices.</p>.<p>After banning wheat exports in May, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi restricted wheat flour exports in August to keep a lid on local prices.</p>.<p>The ban on wheat exports boosted demand for Indian wheat flour and the country's flour exports jumped 200% during April-July 2022 from a year earlier, lifting prices in the local market.</p>.<p>Close on the heels of the ban on overseas sales of wheat, India restricted rice exports as scant rains in the east affected planting of the most water-thirsty crop.</p>.<p>India's protectionist measures have stoked fears of food shortages in some of the world's most needy and vulnerable countries in Asia and Africa.</p>
<p>India has allowed export-oriented units and the firms set up in Special Economic Zones to export flour made from imported wheat, a government order said on Friday, conceding to the demands of food processors to allow shipments of value-added products.</p>.<p>India will allow food processors to import duty-free wheat against a commitment to export flour, the order said.</p>.<p>After a sudden rise in temperatures in mid-March shrivelled the wheat crop, India, the world's second-biggest producer of the grain, banned overseas sales of the staple to secure supplies for its 1.4 billion people.</p>.<p>Wheat exports from India, also the world's second biggest consumer of the staple, surged after Russia's invasion of Ukraine hit supplies from the Black Sea region, resulting in a jump in global prices.</p>.<p>After banning wheat exports in May, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi restricted wheat flour exports in August to keep a lid on local prices.</p>.<p>The ban on wheat exports boosted demand for Indian wheat flour and the country's flour exports jumped 200% during April-July 2022 from a year earlier, lifting prices in the local market.</p>.<p>Close on the heels of the ban on overseas sales of wheat, India restricted rice exports as scant rains in the east affected planting of the most water-thirsty crop.</p>.<p>India's protectionist measures have stoked fears of food shortages in some of the world's most needy and vulnerable countries in Asia and Africa.</p>