Friday September 14, 03:33 AM
Food ministry works out new ways to make wheat import cheaper
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By Varun Jaitly
Miffed with high service charges levied on wheat imports by State Trading Corporation (STC), the food ministry is thinking of either asking STC to deliver imported wheat at the Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns or charge for services on a tonnage basis, against the cost-insurance-freight (CIF) basis. STC had charged a whopping Rs 60 crore on CIF basis as service charges from FCI for importing 55-lakh tonne wheat at a weighted average price of $205 per tonne last year. Since the service charges are levied on a CIF basis, the charges this year will go up significantly as the average price of wheat imports this year is more than 50% higher than last year. "The high service charges of STC are not justified against the services that they offer. They should either deliver the wheat at the FCI godowns or charge on the basis of tonnage," said a senior government official. FCI has to bear further transportation costs at an average price of Rs 500 per tonne, thus the entire process of wheat imports becomes very costly, the official added. When contacted, FCI chairman Alok Sinha admitted that FCI had paid service charges worth Rs 60 crore to STC for last year's wheat imports but expressed ignorance of the fact that the food ministry had cognisance of the fact that the amount was unjustified against the services offered. "It would be a sensible decision to pay service charges on tonnage basis, but I would not know about what the ministries are doing. FCI comes into the picture once the wheat reaches the India ports," he said. When contacted, STC officials said the service charges were fixed by the concerned ministry and the percentage varied from time to time. STC, the officials added, offered floating of tender, investigating the bids, finalising the bids and then procuring the consignment till the port. Meanwhile, other importing agencies directly under the food ministry such as National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (Nafed) do not charge such a service charge for importing. Nafed imports pulses and oilseeds for open market sales. "We are not paid any service charges for importing pulses or oilseeds.
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